Abstract
ANYTHING written by Hertz is of interest; and these papers are of interest, not only on this account but also on account of their suggestiveness. It is always a question as to the desirability of republishing and translating papers published some years ago. Most valuable papers of ten years' standing have produced their effect. Their vitality has been transmitted to and reproduced in subsequent work, but what the scientific world requires is advance rather than revision. The work of pioneers is, however, largely an exception to this rule. They are generally in advance of their times, and much of their work is of value long after it was done. Such an one was Hertz. Most of his papers are suggestive of questions which still require answers, and they all breathe a spirit that, as he says himself of Helmholtz's work, evokes “the same elevation and wonder as ini beholding a pure work of art.”His papers are not mere enumerations of observations, nor mathematical gymnastics. Each has a definite purpose and an artistic unity. A life-giving idea pervades it. It is no mere dry bones, but an organic whole that lives for a purpose, and does some work for science.
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G., G. Hertz's Miscellaneous Papers. Nature 55, 6–9 (1896). https://doi.org/10.1038/055006f0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/055006f0
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