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Hendrik Lorentz

--> a Dutch physicist

--> the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics

--> discovered and explained theoretically of the Zeeman effect

--> derived the transformation equations

Scientific Works

Hendrik’s greatest science contribution for which he and his student, Pieter Zeeman received a Nobel Prize in 1902 was when he developed a mathematical theory of the electron which proposed that light waves were caused by the oscillations of an electric charge in the atom. His proposal came out at a time when the existence of electrons was yet to be proven.

Hendrik is also best known for his work on the FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction. In 1904, he introduced his transformations which basically described the increase of mass, the reduction of length, and the time dilation of a body that is moving at speeds closest to the velocity of light. This served as the fundamentals of Einstein’s special theory of atoms and theories of relativity. In 1953, Einstein wrote that Lorentz meant more to him than all the others he met on his life’s journey.

Credit:

"Hendrik Antoon Lorentz." Famous Scientists. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.