Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the life of scientist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (February 22, 1857 — January 1, 1894) born this day 1857. The German physicist clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory of light that had initially been developed by Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell. Hertz was the first to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves by designing instruments to transmit and receive radio pulses using experimental procedures that ruled out all other known wireless phenomena. He was immortalised in our system of physical units as providing the unit of frequency.
Interestingly, electromagnetic radiation features in the news today as politicians are once again concerned about the devastating effects a pulse of electromagnetic radiation either from the sun or from a nuclear weapon detonated high above a country.