Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853–1928)
Author of The Principle of Relativity
About the Author
Born in Holland, Hendrik Lorentz was a graduate of the University of Leiden, receiving his Ph.D. in 1875. In 1877, Lorentz became a professor of theoretical physics there. Upon his retirement from the University of Leiden in 1912, Lorentz was appointed director of the Teyler Laboratory in Haarlem. show more Lorentz had wide-ranging interests in physics and mathematics as his linguistic abilities allowed him to follow the scientific trends in Europe. His major work, however, was the development of the electromagnetic theory of James Clark Maxwell. In fact, Lorentz refined the theory so that a radical change in the foundations of physics became necessary. This provided the inspiration for Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. In a series of articles from 1892 to 1904, Lorentz proposed his "electron theory." The theory explained that atoms and molecules of matter contain small rigid bodies carrying a charge---now known as electrons. By 1895, Lorentz described the force (now known as the Lorentz force) on charged particles of matter in an electromagnetic field. In 1902, Lorentz and Pieter Zeeman shared the Nobel Prize in physics for their investigations of the influence of magnetic fields on radiation. Two years later, he published "Lorentz Transformations" concerning transformations of space and time coordinates with respect to a frame of reference. Lorentz Transformations were important in Einstein's special theory of relativity (1905). In his later life, Lorentz played a major role in restoring international scientific relations after World War I. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Hendrik Antoon Lorentz
The Theory of Electrons and Its Applications to the Phenomena of Light and Radiant Heat (1952) 22 copies
The Scientific Correspondence of H.A. Lorentz: Volume I (Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical… (2008) 4 copies
Beginselen der natuurkunde Deel I en deel II Leiddraad bij de lessen aan de Universiteit te Leiden 3 copies
Problems of modern physics; a course of lectures delivered in the California Institute of Technology (1967) 3 copies
Collected papers, vol. V 1 copy
Letters on Wave Mechanics: Correspondence with H. A. Lorentz, Max Planck, and Erwin Schrödinger 1 copy
Versuch einer Theorie der electrischen und optischen Erscheinungen in bewegten Körpern (2014) 1 copy
Electriciteit en magnetisme 1 copy
Prof. Dr. H.A. Lorentz 1 copy
Associated Works
On Relativity 3 copies
90 Masterpieces You Must Read (Vol.1): Novels, Poetry, Plays, Short Stories, Essays, Psychology & Philosophy (2020) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1853-07-18
- Date of death
- 1928-02-04
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Netherlands
- Country (for map)
- Netherlands
- Birthplace
- Arnhem, Netherlands
- Awards and honors
- shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman (discovery Zeeman effect)
Members
Reviews
This tiny book is an attempt at explaining Einstein's theory of relativity, but if you're considering picking it up in the hopes of understanding the subject matter, there are many many better resources. I'm not sure if it's due to the dry academic style, the inherently difficult nature of the subject, or the intervening time imposing a communication barrier, but this book is almost entirely impenetrable. Good thing it's only 38 pages.
The book itself is rather amateurishly published and edited as well - or should I say, published and not edited at all, as there are weird page breaks and word-breaks clearly left in from the source material, which is very distracting.… (more)
The book itself is rather amateurishly published and edited as well - or should I say, published and not edited at all, as there are weird page breaks and word-breaks clearly left in from the source material, which is very distracting.… (more)
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 17
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 705
- Popularity
- #35,924
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 5
- ISBNs
- 48
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 1
The narrator actually did a great job of reading this book, too, which I hadn't really expected would be the case with a classic physics text.… (more)