Hertz, Einstein, and the photoelectric effect
DOI: 10.1063/1.2930718
The article “Geodetic Laser Scanning” (Physics Today, December 2007, page 41 ) includes a sidebar (page 42 ) titled “Albert Einstein and Geodesy.” That otherwise informative box contains an error. In the last paragraph, the first sentence states that Albert Einstein discovered the photoelectric effect; that is not true. Einstein explained the photoelectric effect by introducing early quantum ideas, but Heinrich Hertz discovered the effect in metals experimentally in 1887. (Earlier observations of similar effects in nonmetals were made by Alexandre Becquerel in 1839 and Willoughby Smith in 1873; both can be explained by Einstein’s theory.)
In defense of the authors, I would agree that Einstein’s explanation of the effect paved the way for the later development of devices based on a correct understanding of it.
More about the Authors
Thomas Wofford. (thomas.wofford@ara.com) Applied Research Associates Inc, Albuquerque, New Mexico, US .
