19th Century Pioneer

Heinrich Rudolph Hertz (1857 – 1894).  Germany.

A physics professor.   The frequency of alternating current is measured in “cycles per second” (CPS).  This unit of measurement was changed to Hertz to honor him.

Hertz clarified and expanded upon the previous work in 1884 by the British physicist James Clerk Maxwell on the electromagnetic theory of light.  Through experiments he determined that electricity could be transmitted by electromagnetic waves at the speed of light through air.  His experiments led to the development of wireless telegraphy and radio.  He was the first person to broadcast and receive radio waves and to establish the fact that light was a form of electromagnetic radiation.