Biographies
When I was in the 5th grade, 1965-66, I got pneumonia and had to stay home from school for several weeks. I was a voracious reader then but can't remember many of the books in particular. But when I had pneumonia I couldn't use either the school library or the local municipal library. And I had a lot of time on my hands staying in bed all day. So my Dad got me books. And while I don't remember the titles/authors I do remember the subjects: mainly biographies. A book on Edison of course but another on Steinmetz, too. Charles P. Steinmetz, born in Europe, emigrated to the USA. An engineer of the highest grade who worked for General Electric. People like Tesla dreamed up the new and formerly impossible but men like Steinmetz made those ideas real. I'm not sure most appreciate the nearly endless grind in getting a product to work, then making it better and always, making it cheaper. The development side of R&D is underapp...