About the Nobel Prize in Physics 1913
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was born
on September 21, 1853, at Groningen, The Netherlands. His father,
Harm Kamerlingh Onnes, was the owner of a brickworks near
Groningen; his mother was Anna Gerdina Coers of Arnhem, the
daughter of an architect.
After spending the allotted time at the "Hoogere Burgerschool" in
his native town (secondary school without classical languages),
the director of which was the later Professor of Chemistry at
Leyden J.M. van Bemmelen, he received supplementary teaching in
Greek and Latin. In 1870 he entered the University of Groningen,
obtained his "candidaats" degree (approx. B.Sc.) the following
year, and then went to Heidelberg as a student of Bunsen and
Kirchhoff from October 1871 until April 1873. Thereafter he
returned to Groningen, where he passed his "doctoraal"
examination (approx. M.Sc.) in 1878 and obtained the doctor's
degree in 1879 with a remarkable thesis Nieuwe bewijzen voor
de aswenteling der aarde (New proofs of the rotation of the
earth).
Meanwhile in 1878 he had become assistant at the Polytechnicum at
Delft, working under Bosscha, in whose place he also lectured in
1881 and 1882, the year in which he was appointed Professor of
Experimental Physics and Meteorology at Leyden
University, in succession to P.L. Rijke.
Kamerlingh Onnes' talents for solving scientific problems was
already apparent in 1871, when at the age of 18 he was awarded a
Gold Medal for a competition sponsored by the Natural Sciences
Faculty of the University of Utrecht, followed the next year by a
Silver Medal for a similar event at the University of Groningen.
When working with Kirchhoff he also won the "Seminarpreis",
entitling him to occupy one of the two existing assistantships
under Kirchhoff.
In his doctor's thesis theoretical as well as experimental proof
was given that Foucault's well-known pendulum experiment should
be considered as a special case of a large group of phenomena
which in a much simpler fashion can be used to prove the
rotational movement of the earth. In 1881 he published a paper
Algemeene theorie der vloeistoffen (General theory of
liquids), which dealt with the kinetic theory of the liquid
state, approaching Van der Waals' law of corresponding states
from a mechanistic point of view. This work can be considered as
the beginning of his life-long investigations into the properties
of matter at low temperatures. In his inaugural address De
beteekenis van het quantitatief onderzoek in de natnurkunde
(The importance of quantitative research in physics) he arrived
at his well-known motto "Door meten tot weten" (Knowledge through
measurement), an appreciation of the value of measurements which
concerned him throughout his scientific career.
After his appointment to the Physics Chair at Leyden, Kamerlingh
Onnes reorganized the Physical Laboratory (now known as the
Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory) in a way to suit
his own programme. His researches were mainly based on the
theories of his two great compatriots J.D. van der Waals and
H.A. Lorentz. In
particular he had in mind the establishment of a cryogenic
laboratory which would enable him to verify Van der Waals' law of
corresponding states over a large range of temperatures. His
efforts to reach extremely low temperatures culminated in the
liquefaction of helium in 1908. Bringing the temperature of the
helium down to 0,9°K, he reached the nearest approach to
absolute zero then achieved, thus justifying the saying that the
coldest spot on earth was situated at Leyden. It was on account
of these low-temperature studies that he was awarded the Nobel
Prize. Later, his pupils W.H. Keesom and W.J. de Haas ( Lorentz'
son-in-law) conducted experiments in the same laboratory which
led them still closer to absolute zero.
Other investigations in his laboratory which gradually gained in
importance and international fame, included thermodynamics, the
radioactivity law, and observations on optical, magnetic and
electrical phenomena, such as the study of fluorescence and
phosphorescence, the magnetic rotation of the polarization plane,
absorption spectra of crystals in the magnetic field; also the
Hall effect, dielectric constants, and especially the resistance
of metals. A momentous discovery (1911) was that of the
superconductivity of pure metals such as mercury, tin and
lead at very low temperatures, and following from this the
observation of persisting currents.
The results of Kamerlingh Onnes' investigations were published in
the Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences of
Amsterdam and also in the Communications from the Physical
Laboratory at Leyden. Many foreign scientists came to Leyden
to work in his laboratory for shorter or longer periods. The
laboratory gained additional fame throughout the world through
the training school for instrument-makers and glass-blowers
housed in it, founded by Kamerlingh Onnes in 1901.
At the early age of 30, Kamerlingh Onnes was appointed a member
of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Amsterdam. He was one of the
founders of the Association (now Institut) International du
Froid. He was a Commander in the Order of the Netherlands Lion,
the Order of Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands, the Order of St.
Olaf of Norway, and the Order of Polonia Restituta of Poland. He
held an honorary doctorate of the University of Berlin, and was
awarded the Matteucci Medal, the Rumford Medal, the Baumgarten
Preis and the Franklin Medal. He was Member of the Society of
Friends of Science in Moscow, and of the Academies of Sciences in
Copenhagen, Uppsala, Turin, Vienna, Göttingen and Halle;
Foreign Associate of the Académie des Sciences of Paris;
Foreign Member of the Accademia dei Lincei of Rome and the Royal
Society of London; and Honorary Member of the Physical Society of
Stockholm, the Société Helvétique des Sciences
Naturelles, the Royal Institution of London, the Sociedad
Española da Física y Qumica of Madrid, and the Franklin
Institute of Philadelphia.
Outside his scientific work, Kamerlingh Onnes' favourite
recreations were his family life and helpfulness to those who
needed it. Although his work was his hobby, he was far from being
a pompous scholar. A man of great personal charm and
philanthropic humanity, he was very active during and after the
First World War in smoothing out political differences between
scientists and in succouring starving children in countries
suffering from food shortage. In 1887 he married Maria Adriana
Wilhelmina Elisabeth Bijleveld, who was a great help to him in
these activities and who created a home widely known for its
hospitality. They had one son, Albert, who became a high-ranking
civil servant at The Hague.
Kamerlingh Onnes' health had always been somewhat delicate, and,
after a short illness, he died at Leyden on February 21,
1926.
From Nobel Lectures, Physics 1901-1921, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1967
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1913
