What’s with the Google logo doodle today?
If you’ve gone onto Google.com today, you’ve noticed that the Google Logo Doodle has changed. Instead of the trademark logo, Google’s homepage is now showing a colorful doodle that waves on endlessly. Why? Because today, February 22, 2012, marks a special day. If you click through the animation, you’ll find the reason behind this stylized wave: It’s a tribute to German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz’s 155th birthday.
So what did Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, born in Hamburg on February 22, 1857, do to deserve such a tribute? Well, as you may have guessed by the electric wave of the Google Logo Doodle, he was the first person to prove electromagnetic waves exist and that electricity can be carried through them. In addition to a Google logo doodle in his honor, his name is used as a unit of measurement, the hertz, which is equal to one cycle per second and is used to gauge frequency.
While this Google doodle is pretty simple and straight forward, Google does manage to put in a little self promotion into the act. If you look closely, you’ll see the wavelength’s repeating pattern outlines the shape of Google’s usual logo.
Google Logo Doodle Video
Below is a video of the Google Logo Doodle. Be careful as you watch it though, because, if you’re like me, you’ll find it ‘hertz’ your eyes to look at it.