Article ID: CBB521367913

What Heinrich Hertz discovered about electric waves in 1887–1888 (2021)

unapi

Among the most influential and well-known experiments of the 19th century was the generation and detection of electromagnetic radiation by Heinrich Hertz in 1887–1888, work that bears favorable comparison for experimental ingenuity and influence with that by Michael Faraday in the 1830s and 1840s. In what follows, we pursue issues raised by what Hertz did in his experimental space to produce and to detect what proved to be an extraordinarily subtle effect. Though he did provide evidence for the existence of such radiation that other investigators found compelling, nevertheless Hertz’s data and the conclusions he drew from it ran counter to the claim of Maxwell’s electrodynamics that electric waves in air and wires travel at the same speed. Since subsequent experiments eventually suggested otherwise, the question arises of just what took place in Hertz’s. The difficulties attendant on designing, deploying, and interpreting novel apparatus go far in explaining his results, which were nevertheless sufficiently convincing that other investigators, and Hertz himself, soon took up the challenge of further investigation based on his initial designs.

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Authors & Contributors
Fábio Rodrigo Leite
Spink, Aaron
Stoffel, Jean-François
Staubermann, Klaus B.
Sibum, H. Otto
Schirrmacher, Arne
Concepts
Experiments and experimentation
Physics
Experimental method
Controversies and disputes
Electromagnetic waves; radiation
Methodology of science; scientific method
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
17th century
20th century
18th century
16th century
Places
Germany
Great Britain
Leipzig (Germany)
France
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