Biography Heinrich Hertz

Full Name:
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz
Best Known For: Proof of the existence of electromagnetic waves, Hertz's principle of least
curvature, and the photoelectric effect.
Born: February 22, 1857 in Hamburg, Germany
Died: January 1, 1894 in Bonn, Germany, at age 36
Parents: Gustav Ferdinand Hertz and Anna Elisabeth Pfefferkorn
Spouse: Elisabeth Doll, married 1886
Children: Johanna and Mathilde
Education: Physics and mechanical engineering, was a professor of physics in various institutes.
Significant Contributions: Proved that electromagnetic waves propagated various distances

through the air, and summarized how objects of different materials affect each other on
contact.
Heinrich Hertz was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1857. His parents were Gustav Ferdinand
Hertz (a lawyer) and Anna Elisabeth Pfefferkorn. Although his father was born Jewish, he converted to
Christianity and the children were raised as Christians. This did not stop the Nazis from dishonoring
Hertz after his death, due to the "taint" of Jewishness, but his reputation was restored after World War
II.
The young Hertz was educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums in Hamburg, where he
showed a deep interest in scientific subjects. He went on to study engineering in Frankfurt under such
scientists as Gustav Kirchhoff and Hermann Helmholtz. Kirchhoff specialized in studies of radiation,
spectroscopy, and electrical circuit theories. Helmholtz was a physicist who developed theories about
vision, the perception of sound and light, and the fields of electrodynamics and thermodynamics. It is
small wonder then, that the young Hertz became interested in some of the same theories and
eventually did his life's work in the fields of contact mechanics and electromagnetism.
After earning a Ph.D. in 1880, Hertz took up a series of professorships where he taught physics
and theoretical mechanics. He married Elisabeth Doll in 1886 and they had two daughters. Hertz's
doctoral dissertation focused on James Clerk Maxwell's theories of electromagnetism. Maxwell worked
in mathematical physics until his death in 1879 and formulated what is now known as Maxwell's
Equations. They describe, through mathematics, the functions of electricity and magnetism. He also
predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves.
Hertz's work focused on that proof, which took him several years to achieve. He constructed
a simple dipole antenna with a spark gap between the elements, and he managed to produce radio
waves with it. Between 1879 and 1889, he did a series of experiments that used electrical and magnetic
fields to produce waves that could be measured. He established that the velocity of the waves was the
same as the speed of light, and studied the characteristics of the fields he generated, measuring their
magnitude, polarization, and reflections. Ultimately, his work showed that light and other waves he
measured were all a form of electromagnetic radiation that could be defined by Maxwell's equations. He
proved through his work that electromagnetic waves can and do move through the air.
Hertz focused on a concept called the photoelectric effect, which occurs when an object with
electrical charge loses that charge very quickly when it is exposed to light, in his case, ultraviolet
radiation. He observed and described the effect, but never explained why it happened. That was left to
Albert Einstein, who published his own work on the effect. He suggested that light (electromagnetic
radiation) consists of energy carried by electromagnetic waves in little packets called quanta. Hertz's
studies and Einstein's later work eventually became the basis for an important branch of physics called
quantum mechanics. Hertz and his student Phillip Lenard also worked with cathode rays, which are
produced inside vacuum tubes by electrodes.
Heinrich Hertz worked on his research and lecturing until his death on January 1, 1894. His
health began failing several years prior to his death, and there was some evidence he had cancer. His
final years were taken up with teaching, further research, and several operations for his condition. His
final publication, a book titled "Die Prinzipien der Mechanik" (The Principles of Mechanics), was sent to
the printer a few weeks before his death.

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Full Name:

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz

Born: February 22, 1857 in Hamburg, Germany

Died: January 1, 1894 in Bonn, Germany, at age 36

Parents: Gustav Ferdinand Hertz and Anna Elisabeth Pfefferkorn

Spouse: Elisabeth Doll, married 1886

Children: Johanna and Mathilde

Education: Physics and mechanical engineering, was a professor of physics in various institutes.

Significant Contributions: Proved that electromagnetic waves propagated various distances

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