Chapter 5
Spring 1891
Triangles
Uncle Jakob found the twelve-year-old Albert sitting at the kitchen table, drawing triangles, again. Jacob was the youngest of five siblings.
Unlike Albert’s father, Hermann, Jakob had been able to pursue higher education and had qualified as an engineer. Hermann had not resented his brother’s opportunity, and together the two brothers built a successful company providing generators and electrical lighting to municipalities in southern Germany. Jakob oversaw the technical side while Hermann handled sales. Perhaps more essential to the partnership, Hermann was able to secure loans from his wife’s side of the family.
Jakob’s training and knowledge were regularly put to the test by Albert, who had an inexhaustible supply of questions. One day he was asking
