Leo Graetz

Leo Graetz (26 September 1856 – 12 November 1941) was a German physicist. He was born in Breslau, Germany, and was the son of historian Heinrich Graetz.

Leo Graetz
Leo Graetz, painted by Franz von Stuck (1906)
Born	(1856-09-26)26 September 1856 Breslau, Prussia
Died	12 November 1941(1941-11-12) (aged 85) Munich, Nazi Germany
Known for	Graetz number, Diode bridge

Graetz was one of the first to investigate the propagation of electromagnetic energy. The Graetz number (Gz), a dimensionless number describing heat flow, is named after him.^[1] Also sometimes known by his name is the diode bridge rectifier circuit that was invented by Polish electrotechnician Karol Pollak in 1896^[2] and that was independently invented and published by Leo Graetz in 1897.^[3]

In 1880 he confirmed the Stefan–Boltzmann law.^[4]

Graetz died in Munich at age 85.

Publications

• Die Elektrizität und ihre Anwendungen (Electricity and Its Applications), Stuttgart 1903 Digital 17th edition from 1914 by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
• Handbuch der Elektrizität und des Magnetismus (Handbook of Electricity and Magnetism) - 5 volumes, 1918, 1921, 1923, 1920, 1928
• Recent developments in atomic theory, 1922