Frank William Peek Jr. (August 20, 1881,

Mokelumne Hill, California Mokelumne Hill (''Mokelumne'', Miwok for "People of the Fish Net") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 646 at the 2010 census, down from 774 at the 2000 ...

– July 27, 1933, near

Gaspé, Quebec Gaspé is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec in Canada. Gaspé is located about northeast of Quebec City, and east of Rimouski. As of the 2021 Canadian Census, the city had ...

) was an American electrical engineer and inventor, known as a pioneer in engineering research on the creation of extremely high voltage electricity. He is often given the sobriquet "inventor of man-made lightning". He is known for

Peek's law In physics, Peek's law defines the electric potential gap necessary for triggering a corona discharge between two wires: :: e_v = m_v g_v r \ln \left ( \right ) ''e''v is the "visual critical corona voltage" or "corona inception voltage" (CIV), ...

Biography

Peek graduated in 1905 with a bachelor's degree from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and in 1911 with a master's degree in electrical engineering from

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

. He then became a consulting and research engineer for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

(GE) in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

. In June 1931 Harris J. Ryan and

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

offered Peek the chair of the Engineering College of Stanford University, but he rejected the offer in favor of "the top engineering job at GE".p. 135
/ref> Peek patented inventions related to electrical transmission, insulation, and protective devices. He did fundamental research on laws of

corona discharge A corona discharge is an electrical discharge caused by the ionization of a fluid such as air surrounding a conductor carrying a high voltage. It represents a local region where the air (or other fluid) has undergone electrical breakdown ...

, as well as transient phenomena and electrical transmission. He was elected in 1922 a fellow of the American Physical Society. He was awarded in 1923 the Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize of the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and in 1926 the Louis E. Levy Medal of the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

. On August 9, 1913, in Oswego, New York, he married Merle A. Bell, who was a graduate of

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. In 1933, Frank and Merle Peek were on a trip to Canada when their automobile was struck by a locomotive at a grade-crossing — he was killed and she was injured.

Selected publications

Articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Books

* (1st edition, 1915)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peek, Frank William 1881 births 1933 deaths American electrical engineers 20th-century American inventors Stanford University alumni Union College (New York) alumni General Electric employees Fellows of the American Physical Society People from Calaveras County, California