Kamerlingh-Onnes (Kamerlingh-Onnes), Heike

September 21, 1853, Mr.. - 21 February 1926
Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was born in Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. His father, Harm Kamerlingh Onnes was a successful owner of a brick factory, his mother, nee Anna Gerdina Koers, was the daughter of an architect.
After completing secondary school K-O. in 1870. enrolled at Groningen University, where he studied mathematics and physics. Degree candidates (roughly equivalent to a bachelor's degree) he received in 1871. Three semesters K.-O. held at the University of Heidelberg (Germany), where his studies led by chemist Robert Bunsen and physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. In 1873, Mr.. K.-O. returned to Groningen. Six years later, he brilliantly defended his doctoral thesis, which offered new proof of the Earth's rotation.
From 1878 to 1882, Mr.. K.-O. lectured at the Polytechnic College (later transformed into the Technical University) Delft. Attention K-O. attracted by the theory of gases, Johannes van der Waals forces, establishing the relationship between pressure, temperature and volume. It is possible to take into account the differences in the behavior of real and ideal gases. While the van der Waals taught in Amsterdam, and K - O. entered into correspondence with him about the molecular theory.
In 1882, at the age of twenty-nine, K.-O. was appointed professor of experimental physics at Leiden University and became head of the physics laboratory of the University. In his inaugural lecture K.-O. proclaimed a principle that guided for forty two years of his stay at Leiden University: 'A measurement to knowledge'. According K.-O., physical laboratory must produce quantitative measurements and qualitative experiments to put the theoretical description should be supported by accurate measurements, produced with astronomical precision.
. According to the theory of corresponding states of van der Waals forces, all gases behave the same way, if the unit of pressure and temperature selected on the basis of weak forces of attraction between molecules
. K.-O. believed that the study of the behavior of gases at low temperatures can provide important information to verify the theory of corresponding states. To achieve the low temperatures to liquefy gases. K.-O. chose the theme for the work of his laboratory a narrow area of cryogenics - the study of low-temperature effects. He built a large plant to liquefy gas for obtaining large quantities of low-temperature liquids - oxygen, nitrogen and air. These liquids were needed to carry out experiments to study the properties of materials and to achieve even lower temperatures. To prepare qualified assistants, K.-O. in 1909. opened a school for mechanics and glass blowers. Soon the Leyden school graduates can be found in physics laboratories around the world. Laboratory KA-O. a model for research institutes of the XX century.
Although the Scottish scientist James Dewar was liquid hydrogen in 1898, only AK-O. managed to establish receipt of liquid hydrogen in significant quantities. It is preset to produce 4 liters of liquid hydrogen per hour. To create the installation took all the skill of trained K-O. technicians: mechanics - to create pump, glass blowers - for the manufacture of transparent vessels, through the walls of which could observe the behavior of materials at low temperatures.
Two years later, K.-O. first time succeeded in liquid helium at a temperature of only 4 б° above absolute zero. Some scientists doubted that it was generally achieved. 'I was beside myself with joy when liquid helium was able to show my friend Van der Waals forces, whose theory has been my guiding light, would bring the liquefaction of the end' - later recalled K.-O. With the help of liquid helium K-O. achieved even lower temperatures: 1.38 K in 1909. and 1.04 K in 1910. However, his main concern remained the study of properties of substances at such low temperatures. He studied the absorption spectra of the elements, phosphorescence of various compounds, the viscosity of liquefied gases, and magnetic properties of substances. As the temperature is a measure of the random motion of molecules of substance, . and it obscures the essence of some phenomena, . decrease in temperature can, . the expression K.-O., . help 'lift the veil, . that extend over the inner world of atoms and the electron thermal motion at ordinary temperatures. ",
. His most striking discovery of KV-O
. made in 1911. He found that at low temperatures, the electrical resistance of certain metals completely disappears. This phenomenon AK-O. called superconductivity. K.-O. suggested that the explanation of superconductivity will be given by the quantum theory. In 1957. John Bardeen, Leon Cooper and J. Robert Schrieffer proposed a theoretical explanation of the phenomenon of superconductivity.
K.-O. was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1913. 'for studying the properties of matter at low temperatures, which led to the production of liquid helium'. Presenting the winner, Theodore Nordstrom of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said that 'the achievement of such low temperatures is of great importance for physics research and the work of K.-O. contribute to the new theory of the electron '.
K.-O., has won universal love and earning the honorary nickname of Mr. Absolute Zero, did much to promote international cooperation in science. He gladly invite foreign scientists to work in his laboratory. Founded by his magazine 'Communications from the Physical Laboratory of the University of Leiden' ( "Communications From the Physical Laboratory of the University of Leiden") became the most authoritative publication on Low Temperature Physics. K.-O. took an active part in developing methods for the use of low temperatures: food storage refrigerator-car establishment and production of ice.
In 1887, Mr.. K.-O. married Elizabeth Bielefeld. In the couple was born one son. Interests K.-O. concentrating in the walls of his laboratory. He was a devoted family man, and his colleagues spoke of him as a man of great charm and modesty. During the First World War, he participated in the organization of aid to the starving children of different countries. The immensity of his achievements and the intensity of research activity is in stark disagreement with fragile health, he was distinguished throughout his life. After a short illness, K.-O. died in Leiden, 21 February 1926
Among his numerous awards were the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Sciences Matteuchchi Italy, Rumford Medal of the Royal Society of London and the Medal of the Franklin Institute Franklinovskogo. He was an honorary doctor of the University of Berlin. When he was not even thirty, he was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Amsterdam. K.-O. was a member of Academies of Sciences in Copenhagen, Goettingen, Halle, Uppsala, Turin and Vienna.