Wilhelm Holtz

Wilhelm Holtz (October 15, 1836 - September 27, 1913) was a German physicist who was a native of Saatel bei Barth, Mecklenburg. Between 1857 and 1862 he studied physics and natural sciences in Berlin, Dijon and Edinburgh. Afterwards he performed experiments with electricity in Berlin, and later worked at the Universities of Halle and Greifswald, where in 1884 he became a professor of physics.

In 1865 Holtz invented the "Holtz Electrostatic Influence Machine", which was an electrostatic induction generator that converted mechanical work into electrostatic energy, and only needed an initial charge to begin operation. In the following years Holtz made modifications, and manufactured several more of these devices. Electrostatic generators from this era were sometimes referred to as "Toepler-Holtz machines", which were named in conjunction with German physicist August Toepler (1836-1912), who during the same time period constructed an "influence machine" independent of Holtz, and is often credited as being its initial inventor.

External links

* [http://www.coe.ufrj.br/~acmq/holtz.html Essay on the Holtz Influence Machine]
* [http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/toepler.html Biography of August Toepler]