ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part provides a valuable account of Hertz’s scientific accomplishments during his years in Karlsruhe and of the impact his research had on physics at the end of the nineteenth century. The four years Hertz spent as Professor of Physics at the Karlsruhe Technische Hochschule were the climax of his scientific career. Hertz hit upon the phenomenon by accident but immediately realized its importance and dedicated six months of research time to a thorough investigation of the interaction of light with electricity. A brief review by George Francis FitzGerald of the original German edition of Electric Waves follows, and finally Helmholtz’s 1889 speech nominating Hertz as a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, a speech that stresses Hertz’s work on electric waves as the primary reason that he merited inclusion in the Academy.
