Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (February 22nd 1857 - January 1st 1894), was an engineer and German physicist.

Biography

  • February 22nd 1857 Hamburg (Germany) birth of Heinrich Hertz, wire of Gustav Ferdinand Hertz, lawyer, and of Anna Elisabeth Pfefferkorn-Hertz.
  • 1863 - 1872 studious Élève of the school of Dr. Richard Lange
  • 1875 After studies impassioned near tutors he becomes graduate and goes to Frankfurt to work during one year in the service of Public works
  • 1876 Studied at the Polytechnic Institute of Dresden
  • 1877 Military service with Berlin
  • 1878 Studied at the University of Munich
  • 1879 Etudiant in Berlin, raises Gustav Kirchhoff and Hermann von Helmholtz at the Institute of Physics
  • 1880 Doctor in Physics then attending the Institute of Physics
  • 1883 Lecturer at the University of Kiel. Carry out research on the electromagnetism.
  • 1885 Professor with the Technische Hochschule of Karlsruhe
  • 1886 Marriage with Elisabeth Fraud.
  • 1887 Study of the various theories of Maxwell, Weber, Helmholtz. Realization of an oscillator.
  • 1888 Work and discovered electromagnetic waves in the air (March 15th)
  • 1889 Professor and researcher with Bonn
  • 1890 Voyage in England, prize winner of the Medal Rumford.
  • January 1st 1894 death in Bonn of a degenerative disease (cancer).

Scientific work

Hertz made its thesis of doctorate under the direction of Hermann von Helmholtz. It is while trying to connect the interference rings S formed between two lenses of glass in contact, that he sought the spherical deformations of two bodies put in contact under a given force, by supposing to them elastic linear behavior. It analytically solved this question during the holidays of Christmas 1880, and published his results in 1882. The problem of the resilient contact of two spheres ( hertzian contact ) remains only solved to date analytically. It finds many applications, particularly in the tests of hardness per indentation.

Hertz highlighted in 1887 the existence of the electromagnetic waves imagined by James Maxwell in 1873 (see Maxwell's equations): A metal plate being subjected to a light will emit electrons, of which the quantity will depend amongst other things on the luminous intensity.

He discovered the photoelectricity and gave his name to the waves radio known as Hertzian waves like with the measuring unit of the frequencies: the Hertz (name into tiny because it acts of a measuring unit, on the other hand the symbol is Hz ).

Anecdote

Following its discovery on the Hertzian waves, Hertz published it before an assembly of students. One of them asked whether there would be applications of these waves. Hertz answered whereas there would be none of it.

Later, the Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi thought on the contrary that there would be. Resuming work of Hertz (he knew them well), he improved the Télégramme by manufacturing the first Télégraphe without wire, proceeded which developed throughout the world and which interested good number of people.

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