Augusto Righi

Augusto Righi (1850 to 1920) was an Italian physicist, born in Bologna, who was one of the first scientists to produce microwaves. He taught physics at Bologna Technical College from 1873 to 1880, left to take up the newly established chair of physics at the University of Palermo, was a professor at the University of Padua from 1885 to 1889 and then returned to the University of Bologna, where he remained until his death in 1920. His early research was in electrostatics, including an induction electrometer in 1872 and the discovery of magnetic hysteresis in 1880. His best-known work is his 1890s investigation of Hertzian waves: in 1894, along with Jagadish Chandra Bose, he was the first person to generate microwaves, and he used them in classic optics experiments showing refraction, diffraction and polarization, which confirmed Maxwell's theory that radio waves and light are both electromagnetic waves. His book L'ottica delle oscillazioni elettriche (1897) is considered a classic of experimental electromagnetism, and he influenced the young Guglielmo Marconi.