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For present-day physicists Heinrich Hertz's Principles of Mechanics is a neglected, almost forgotten, book. For example, few recent textbooks on mechanics make even passing reference to Hertz's fundamental law [Grundgesetz] of the straightest path, which is the foundation of his Principles of Mechanics.¹ Since Hertz's Electric Waves had received an enthusiastic reception from physicists when it first appeared in 1892, and is still important today, it is difficult at first to understand this lack of interest in his book on mechanics, which appeared just two years later. This paper suggests that a major factor in the neglect of Hertz's Mechanics was the unenthusiastic and often quite negative response to his book by some of the most important physicists of his time.

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-015-8855-3_11

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