38 Facts About Heinrich Hertz

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism.

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was born in 1857 in Hamburg, then a sovereign state of the German Confederation, into a prosperous and cultured Hanseatic family.

Heinrich Hertz studied sciences and engineering in the German cities of Dresden, Munich and Berlin, where he studied under Gustav R Kirchhoff and Hermann von Helmholtz.

In 1880, Heinrich Hertz obtained his PhD from the University of Berlin, and for the next three years remained for post-doctoral study under Helmholtz, serving as his assistant.

In 1883, Heinrich Hertz took a post as a lecturer in theoretical physics at the University of Kiel.

In 1885, Heinrich Hertz became a full professor at the University of Karlsruhe.

In 1886, Heinrich Hertz married Elisabeth Doll, the daughter of Max Doll, a lecturer in geometry at Karlsruhe.

Heinrich Hertz took a position of Professor of Physics and Director of the Physics Institute in Bonn on 3 April 1889, a position he held until his death.

In 1892, Heinrich Hertz was diagnosed with an infection and underwent operations to treat the illness.

Heinrich Hertz died after complications in surgery in attempts to fix his condition that was causing these migraines, which some consider to have been a malignant bone condition.

Heinrich Hertz died at the age of 36 in Bonn, Germany, in 1894, and was buried in the Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg.

Helmholtz was sure Heinrich Hertz was the most likely candidate to win it.

Not seeing any way to build an apparatus to experimentally test this, Heinrich Hertz thought it was too difficult, and worked on electromagnetic induction instead.

Heinrich Hertz did produce an analysis of Maxwell's equations during his time at Kiel, showing they did have more validity than the then prevalent "action at a distance" theories.

Heinrich Hertz used a dipole antenna consisting of two collinear one-meter wires with a spark gap between their inner ends, and zinc spheres attached to the outer ends for capacitance, as a radiator.

Heinrich Hertz received the waves with a resonant single-loop antenna with a micrometer spark gap between the ends.

Between 1886 and 1889 Heinrich Hertz conducted a series of experiments that would prove the effects he was observing were results of Maxwell's predicted electromagnetic waves.

Heinrich Hertz had positioned the oscillator about 12 meters from a zinc reflecting plate to produce standing waves.

Heinrich Hertz measured Maxwell's waves and demonstrated that the velocity of these waves was equal to the velocity of light.

Heinrich Hertz did not realize the practical importance of his radio wave experiments.

In 1892, Heinrich Hertz began experimenting and demonstrated that cathode rays could penetrate very thin metal foil.

Philipp Lenard, a student of Heinrich Hertz, further researched this "ray effect".

Heinrich Hertz developed a version of the cathode tube and studied the penetration by X-rays of various materials.

Heinrich Hertz postulated a dispersion theory before Rontgen made his discovery and announcement.

Heinrich Hertz helped establish the photoelectric effect when he noticed that a charged object loses its charge more readily when illuminated by ultraviolet radiation.

Heinrich Hertz's receiver consisted of a coil with a spark gap, whereby a spark would be seen upon detection of EM waves.

Heinrich Hertz placed the apparatus in a darkened box to see the spark better.

Heinrich Hertz observed that the maximum spark length was reduced when in the box.

Heinrich Hertz observed no decrease in spark length when he substituted quartz for glass, as quartz does not absorb UV radiation.

Heinrich Hertz concluded his months of investigation and reported the results obtained.

Heinrich Hertz did not further pursue investigation of this effect, nor did he make any attempt at explaining how the observed phenomenon was brought about.

In 1881 and 1882, Heinrich Hertz published two articles on what was to become known as the field of contact mechanics, which proved to be an important basis for later theories in the field.

Heinrich Hertz used the formation of Newton's rings again while validating his theory with experiments in calculating the displacement which the sphere has into the lens.

Heinrich Hertz's theory is recovered from their formulation if the adhesion of the materials is assumed to be zero.

Heinrich Hertz always had a deep interest in meteorology, probably derived from his contacts with Wilhelm von Bezold.

Heinrich Hertz's name was removed from streets and institutions and there was even a movement to rename the frequency unit named in his honor after Hermann von Helmholtz instead, keeping the symbol unchanged.

Heinrich Hertz's nephew Gustav Ludwig Hertz was a Nobel Prize winner, and Gustav's son Carl Helmut Hertz invented medical ultrasonography.

Heinrich Hertz's daughter Mathilde Carmen Hertz was a well-known biologist and comparative psychologist.