Another Famous Weggie

[marta]

The inspiration behind today's Google Doodle, Heinrich Hertz, passed away at age 36 from Wegener's Granulomatosis.

Heinrich Hertz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just thought you'd like to know.

marta

[Al]

The inspiration behind today's Google Doodle, Heinrich Hertz, passed away at age 36 from Wegener's Granulomatosis.

Heinrich Hertz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just thought you'd like to know.

marta

...Except that it would not have been called that at the time, since Hertz died in 1897, and Wegener's first report did not come out until 1930. Hertz was, in fact, a brilliant and important physicist and one of my heroes. Interestingly, in spite of his contributions, the Nazis essentially denied his existence, because of some Jewish ancestry on his father's side. Nevertheless, his name lives on as an important unit in acoustics (frequencies are measured in Hz. or kHz, as in Hertz, or kilo-Hertz).

Thanks for looking him up, Marta!

Al

[Nancy-S]

You're pretty famous yourself, Marta.

[delorisdoe]

lol very true nancy

[marta]

ha ha ha ha ha - you two are hilarious (Nancy and Leigh)

Al, I was thinking the same thing... what did they call his killer disease when they filled out the death certificate - it sure wasn't Wegener's.

[Al]

....what did they call his killer disease when they filled out the death certificate - it sure wasn't Wegener's.

Do not know, Marta. The contemporary reports mention an infection of the inner ear, though usually such an infection would not be fatal. He also had serious migraines and other ailments--most likely kidney failure. In those days, a granuloma referred to any nodule, and a specific association with ANCA would not have been possible (ANCA themselves were not described until 1982). So the term pathological granulomatosis may have been used, but I know of no clear reference to it or any other name.

By the way, I was wrong: Hertz died in 1894, not 1897.

Al

[Dryhill]

Well done Marta, it is nice to know that we move in such exulated circles.

Jim