Description

The Dutch physicist Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853-1928) was educated at the University of Leiden, where he later became a Professor of Theoretical Physics. A leading figure in his field, he established the basic mathematical principles that were later used by Albert Einstein for his theory of relativity. Lorentz and his colleague Pieter Zeeman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1902 for their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena (the Zeeman effect). In 1905 Lorentz was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, which awarded him the Rumford and Copley Medals. Contributing to the discussion of the theory of a luminiferous ether - soon to be superseded by special relativity - this work, first published in 1895, looks at electromagnetic phenomena (the propagation of light) in relation to moving bodies and optics.