Heinrich Hertz and Philipp Lenard: Two distinguished physicists, two disparate men (Q1975216)

In a comparative biography of Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) and Philipp Lenard (1862-1947), it is shown in what respect the two physicists were alike, and why their reputations both as scientists and as men differ so greatly today. As physicists, both of them bad distinguished careers: Hertz by his famous experimental work on electromagnetic waves, and Lenard by his outstanding research on cathode rays and the photoelectric effect. The article illustrates the major differences in their characters and personalities. Hertz was of extreme modesty with respect to his own achievements and combined a scrupulous sense of fairness with a rigorous sense of responsibility in assigning priorities, whereas Lenard had a fatal tendency to overvalue his own experimental discoveries and to undervalue those of his colleagues. In two special paragraphs devoted to the years 1891-1894 when Lenard served as an assistant to Hertz at the university of Bonn, and to Lenard's attitude toward Hertz after Hertz's death, the author describes how Lenard's deep respect and admiration for Hertz was subtly modified as Lenard more and more distanced himself from his former mentor, especially during and after the Great War when he became increasingly involved in antisemitism and the Nazi movement. In his concluding remarks, the author argues that Lenard's extreme egocentricity and Hertz's complete integrity were the most fundamental difference in character between the two physicists, and that for this reason Hertz is much more highly respected today than is Philipp Lenard.