Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who clarified and expanded James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory of light, which was first demonstrated by David Edward Hughes using non-rigorous trial and error procedures. Hertz is distinguished from Maxwell and Hughes because he was the first to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves by engineering instruments to transmit and receive radio pulses using experimental procedures that ruled out all other known wireless phenomena.[1] The scientific unit of frequency — cycles per second — was named the "hertz" in his honor.[2]

Heinrich Hertz
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz
ÌbíHeinrich Rudolf Hertz
(1857-02-22)22 Oṣù Kejì 1857
Hamburg, German Confederation
Aláìsí1 January 1894(1894-01-01) (ọmọ ọdún 36)
Bonn, German Empire
IbùgbéGermany
Ọmọ orílẹ̀-èdèGerman
PápáPhysics
Electronic Engineering
Ilé-ẹ̀kọ́University of Kiel
University of Karlsruhe
University of Bonn
Ibi ẹ̀kọ́University of Munich
University of Berlin
Doctoral advisorHermann von Helmholtz
Ó gbajúmọ̀ fúnElectromagnetic radiation
Photoelectric effect
Signature


  1. Prof. D. E. Hughes' Research in Wireless Telegraphy, The Electrician, Volume 43, 1899, page 41. See also pages 35, 40, 93, 143–144, 167, 217, 401, 403, 767. Hughes himself said that Hertz's experiments were "far more conclusive than mine".
  2. "IEC History". Archived from the original on 2013-05-19. Retrieved 2013-01-01.