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Hendrik Lorentz

Dutch physicist (1853-1928) · Netherlands · Scientists · Died at 74

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He gave relativity the mathematics it needed before Einstein made it famous. Lorentz worked out the transformation equations that describe how space and time shift between moving observers - equations that still carry his name and underpin the theory that reshaped physics.

ScientistsScientistPhysicsMathematics19th Century

A life in dates

1928Died4 February 19281925Echegaray MedalAward1924Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of ParisAward1920“Einstein's theory has the very highest degree of æsthetic merit: every lover of the beautiful must wish it to be true.”In their wordsTheory of Relativity: A Concise Statement (1920)

“I cannot refrain... from expressing my surprise that, according to the report in The Times there should be so much complaint about the difficulty of understanding the new theory.”In their wordsTheory of Relativity: A Concise Statement (1920)

1918Copley MedalAward1917Franklin MedalAward1916“One has been led to the conception of electrons, i.e.”In their wordsCh. I General principles. Theory of free electrons.

“The impressions received by the two observers A0 and A would be alike in all respects.”In their wordsCh. V Optical Phenomena in Moving Bodies.

1911Honorary Member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt Am Main, Germany)Award1908Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts orderAwardRumford MedalAward1905Foreign Member of the Royal SocietyAward1902Nobel Prize in PhysicsAward1901“Let there be in every material particle several material points charged with electricity, of which, however, only one be movable, and have the charge e and the mass μ.”In their words8 November 1901As quoted by Walter Kaufmann, "The Development of the Electron Idea" (Nov. 8, 1901) The Electrician Vol. 48 pp. 95-97. Lecture delivered

1900Honorary doctor of Leiden UniversityAward1853Born18 July 1853

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

H A Lorentz (Nobel)H A Lorentz (Nobel)1911 Solvay conference1911 Solvay conferenceSolvay conference 1913Solvay conference 1913Ehrenfest Lorentz Bohr Kamerlingh OnnesEhrenfest Lorentz Bohr Kamerlingh OnnesEinstein en LorentzEinstein en LorentzThird Solvay Conference, 1921Third Solvay Conference, 1921PhysicistsinLeidenPhysicistsinLeidenSolvay conference, 1924Solvay conference, 1924

In their own words 6

,
Hendrik Lorentz
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6 statements, newest first

  1. Einstein's theory has the very highest degree of æsthetic merit: every lover of the beautiful must wish it to be true.

    1920, Theory of Relativity: A Concise Statement (1920), Own words

  2. I cannot refrain... from expressing my surprise that, according to the report in The Times there should be so much complaint about the difficulty of understanding the new theory.

    1920, Theory of Relativity: A Concise Statement (1920), Own words

  3. One has been led to the conception of electrons, i.e.

    1916, Ch. I General principles. Theory of free electrons., Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Echegaray Medal1925
Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Paris1924
Copley Medal1918
Franklin Medal1917
Honorary Member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt Am Main, Germany)1911
Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order1908
Rumford Medal1908
Foreign Member of the Royal Society1905
Nobel Prize in Physics1902
Honorary doctor of Leiden University1900
Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Knight of the Legion of Honour
Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion

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About this person

Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was born in the Netherlands in 1853 and built his career as a theoretical physicist parsing the behavior of light and electromagnetism. He derived what became known as the Lorentz transformation, the set of equations later central to Einstein's special relativity, and described the Lorentz force - the push a charged particle feels in an electromagnetic field. He also developed the Lorentz oscillator model to explain why certain materials bent light strangely near resonant frequencies. In 1902 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for their work on the Zeeman effect, the splitting of spectral lines in a magnetic field. Late in life he chaired the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, the body that preceded UNESCO, serving from 1925 until his death in 1928.

Country
Netherlands
Category
Scientists
Type
Scientist
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1853 to 1928 · aged 74

Scientists from the Netherlands 6

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek71.1Pieter Zeeman69.2Walter Lewin77.5Johannes Diderik van der Waals68.5Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff68.2Heike Kamerlingh Onnes66.4

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