Hendrik Lorentz

Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (18 July 1853 – 4 February 1928) was a Dutch physicist. In 1902, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics together with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect. He also derived the transformation equations that were later used by Albert Einstein to describe space and time.

Hendrik Antoon Lorentz
Born	(1853-07-18)18 July 1853 Arnhem, Netherlands
Died	4 February 1928(1928-02-04) (aged 74) Haarlem, Netherlands
Nationality	Netherlands
Alma mater	University of Leiden
Known for	Lorentz transformation Theory of EM radiation Lorentz force Lorentz contraction
Awards	Nobel Prize for Physics (1902) Rumford Medal (1908) Franklin Medal (1917) Copley Medal (1918)
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Doctoral advisor	Pieter Rijke
Doctoral students	Geertruida L. de Haas-Lorentz Adriaan Fokker Leonard Ornstein Hendrika Johanna van Leeuwen

Biography

Early life

Hendrik Lorentz was born in Arnhem, Gelderland (The Netherlands), the son of Gerrit Frederik Lorentz (1822–1893). In 1862, after his mother's death, his father married Luberta Hupkes.

Career

Lorentz and special relativity

Albert Einstein and Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, photographed by Ehrenfest in front of his home in Leiden in 1921.

In 1905, Einstein would use many of the concepts to write his paper entitled "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies",^[1] known today as the theory of special relativity. Because Lorentz laid the fundamentals for the work by Einstein, this theory was originally called the Lorentz-Einstein theory.^[2]

Lorentz and general relativity

Lorentz was one of few scientists who supported Einstein's search for general relativity from the beginning – he wrote several research papers and discussed with Einstein personally and by letter.^[3] For instance, he attempted to combine Einstein's formalism with Hamilton's principle (1915).

Death

In January 1928, Lorentz became seriously ill, and died shortly after on February 4.^[4]

Related pages

• Lorentz force

References

1. Einstein, Albert (1905), "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper" (PDF), Annalen der Physik, 322 (10): 891–921, Bibcode:1905AnP...322..891E, doi:10.1002/andp.19053221004. See also: English translation.
2. Miller, Arthur I. (1981). Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity. Emergence (1905) and early interpretation (1905–1911). Reading: Addison–Wesley. ISBN 0-201-04679-2.
3. Kox, A.J. (1993). "Einstein, Lorentz, Leiden and general relativity". Class. Quantum Grav. 10: S187–S191. Bibcode:1993CQGra..10S.187K. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/10/S/020. S2CID 250884975.
4. Kox, Anne J. (2011). "Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (in Dutch)". Nederlands Tijdschirft voor Natuurkunde. 77 (12): 441.

Other websites

• in the Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science, Amsterdam