Hertz, Heinrich Rudolph {hairtz, hine'-rik} The German physicist, engineer, and mathematician Heinrich Rudolph Hertz, b. Feb. 22, 1857, d. Jan. 1, 1894, was the first person to demonstrate the existence of RADIO waves. His chief inspiration was Herman von HELMHOLTZ. After studying the work of James Clerk MAXWELL, Hertz demonstrated in 1887 that the velocity of radio waves (also called Hertzian waves) was equal to that of light. His work ordered the field of electrodynamics, putting an end to fruitless arguments about action at a distance. The unit of frequency (one cycle per second) is named the hertz in honor of Hertz's work. J. Z. Fullmer Bibliography: Appleyard, Rollo, Pioneers of Electrical Communications (1968). Copyright 1995 by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.
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