Google is celebrating the birthday of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz with today’s doodle. The animated GIF image represents an electromagnetic wave in the bright primary colors of the Google logo.

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was born 155 years ago on February 22, 1857 and is considered the first person to successfully broadcast and receive radio waves.

Though he died at the young age of 36, his research into electromagnetic wave behavior  helped pave the way for the amazing array of wireless devices we have today. Though he did not foresee the impact his work would have on future tech, it helped to make our world as connected as it is now. Typing this post on a device that is not connected to any physical wires would not be possible without the work of network engineers who understand the properties of the electromagnetic spectrum.

How many of us will affect the world as much by the age of 36? His name became forever part of our electromagnetic terminology when “Hz” became a standard IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) unit in 1930. The “Hz” unit represents frequency in cycles per second.