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Heinrich Hertz Photo by Robert Krewaldt, Kaiserplatz 16 Bonn

Top 10 Unknown Facts About Heinrich Hertz 

Heinrich Rudolph Hertz was a German physicist who conclusively proved the existence of electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism. The scientific unit of frequency, cycles per second, was named the 鈥渉ertz鈥� in his honor.

1. He Was Born To A Prosperous Jewish Barrister Who Later Converted To Christianity

He was born on, February 22, 1857, in Hamburg, Germany to Gustav Ferdinand Hertz, and Anna Elisabeth Pfefferkorn. His father was a prosperous barrister who was born Jewish but later converted to Christianity thus Heinrich and his siblings were raised as Christians. His family was a very cultured, prosperous, and well-off family. 

Although he was brought up and lived a Christian life (Lutheranism), in 1834 the Nazis removed his portrait from the Hamburg City Hall because of his Jewish ancestry.

2. He Showed Talent for Scientific Subjects And Foreign Languages From Early Schooling

Laboratory Experiment Photo by Louis Reed on

Hertz attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums grammar school in Hamburg, where he showed a talent for scientific subjects and foreign languages such as Arabic, Latin, and Sanskrit. He went on to study science and engineering in the German cities of Berlin, Dresden, and Munich, under scientists Gustav R. Kirchhoff and Hermann von Helmholtz.

He developed a deep interest in the same theories studied by Kirchhoff and Helmholtz Kirchoff i.e., in electrical circuits, radiation, and spectroscopy. He went on to specialize in theories about sound, light, thermodynamics, and electrodynamics. Hertz eventually focused on the fields of contact mechanics and electromagnetism.

3. He Graduated With Magna Cum Laude (The Highest Honor in Academics)

In 1880, Hertz received his Ph.D. graduating  with magna cum laude at the University of Berlin, where he studied under . For the next three years, he remained for post-doctoral study under Helmholtz, serving as his assistant. While there, he displayed an interest in meteorology but did not do any further experiments or research on it however he contributed a few articles.

4. He Was A Physicist Known For Proving The Existence of Electromagnetic Waves

Picture of radio Photo by Vika Strawberrika on

Heinrich Hertz was a German physicist who proved the existence of electromagnetic waves in James Clerk Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism. Between 1879 and 1889, he conducted a series of experiments using electrical and magnetic fields to produce waves, to prove Maxwell鈥檚 theory.

In 1883 he took a position as a lecturer in theoretical physics at the University of Kiel, in Germany. That same year, he began studying the electromagnetic theory of physicist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell. Maxwell鈥檚 equations describe the charges and currents generated by electric and magnetic fields.

Between 1885 and 1889, he worked as a full professor of physics at the University of Karlsruhe,  During this time Hertz conducted his landmark research into electromagnetic waves and measured their length and .

His experiments proved that the nature of their vibration and their susceptibility to reflection and  were the same as those of light and heat waves. By demonstrating the nature of the waves鈥� vibration and their reflective and refractive characteristics, he managed to prove beyond any doubt that Maxwell鈥檚 theory of  was correct and that light and heat are electromagnetic radiations.

5. The Electromagnetic Waves Were Initially Named After Him

The electromagnetic waves were called Hertzian waves, then later, they were called radio waves which formed the basis of the development of telegraphy, radios, and television. Although he was not the first to produce electromagnetic waves, Hertz was the first to understand the accurate nature of these waves: that move through the air.

Anglo-American inventor  had  so in work that was almost universally ignored in 1879, but Hertz was the first to correctly understand their electromagnetic nature.

6. He Also Discovered The Concept of the Photoelectric Effect

In 1887, Hertz also discovered the concept of the photoelectric effect. This is the loss of an object鈥檚 electrical charge when light hits it. Although Hertz was credited for this phenomenon, but it was  who was able to explain why it occurred.  

In 1889 Hertz was appointed professor of physics at the University of Bonn where he remained in that post until his death. He continued his research on the discharge of electricity in rarefied gases.

In 1892, Hertz began working with cathode rays together with his student Phillip Lenard. This led to the development of a type of cathode tube after studying the penetration by X-rays of different materials. He did not use actual X-rays but illustrated them through mathematical equations.

7. Heinrich Hertz Has Several Innovations Named After Him

He has been recognized for his achievements by having several innovations named after him. The unit of frequency is 鈥淗ertz鈥� is one of them. The stress that the solids undergo upon contact is called Hertzian stress. His studies also became the basis for quantum mechanics.

A crater on the moon is also named after him. Finally, at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, a memorial of Hertz stands, recognizing his discovery of electromagnetic waves.

8. He Was Also Involved in Publications

Between 1886 and 1889 Hertz made significant contributions not only in the field of electromagnetism but also produced the original paper on contact mechanics. He published two papers on contact mechanics that would prove extremely important to the field of electrodynamics.

This study of the deformation of solid objects that come in contact with each other has become an extremely important field in mechanical engineering.

He also published the paper 鈥淥n the Contact of Elastic Solids鈥� in 1882 to support this theory.

9. He Has No Known Descendants

In 1886, Hertz married Elisabeth Doll, the daughter of Max Doll, a lecturer in geometry at Karlsruhe and they were blessed with two daughters: Johanna, born on 20 October 1887, and Mathilde, born on 14 January 1891, who went on to become a notable biologist.

His daughters never married, so there are no descendants of Heinrich Hertz. He died of Wegener’s granulomatosis on January 1, 1894, at the age of 36 in Bonn German,y and was buried in the Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg.

Hertz’s wife, Elisabeth Hertz (1864鈥�1941), did not remarry and he was survived by his daughters, Johanna (1887鈥�1967) and Mathilde (1891鈥�1975). Neither of the daughters ever married or had children, hence Hertz has no living descendants.

10. His Works Still Live On

Although he lived a short life his works still live on. His scientific papers have been translated into English and published in three volumes: Electric Waves (1893), Miscellaneous Papers (1896), and Principles of Mechanics (1899).