Ever wonder what it must have been like at GE, back when Charles Steinmetz and Irving Langmuir were getting so much attention for their research? According to the biographies I have read, there was a wonderful spirit of “science for science’s sake” and not so much pressure to make profits for the company. The Electric City was attracting prospective employees from all over the country, and the world, and research scientists like Langmuir were given free rein to their curiosity. Charles Steinmetz, too, was interested in solving problems in the community at large, and helped develop parks and civic organizations, such as the YWCA. It was a good place for an eager young man from Virginia to be, especially since he was given a chance to put his energy and talent to good use, in the Power and Mining Department.
Brown, Ellen Apperson (2019) “Beyond the Classroom and the Laboratory: General Electric Scientists Sparked an Environmental Movement,” Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies: Vol. 23 : No. 1 , Article 11. Available at: https://digitalworks.union.edu/ajes/vol23/iss1/11
This article is published Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies.