Background
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was born on September 21, 1853, in Groningen, Netherlands. He was one of seven children of Harm Kamerlingh Onnes, a well-known manufacturer in Groningen. His mother was Anna Gerdina Coers of Arnhem.
University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Kamerlingh Onnes was admitted in 1870 to the University of Groningen, where he studied physics and mathematics. In November 1871 he passed the intermediate examination for the bachelor’s degree, whereupon he spent some time at Heidelberg. In April 1873 he returned to Groningen to complete his studies under R. A. Mees. In June 1876 he passed his doctoral examination, and on July 10, 1879, he defended his dissertation.
University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
At Heidelberg Kamerlingh Onnes studied for three semesters with Bunsen and Kirchhoff, a tenure that was made possible by the Seminarpreis. Earlier he had won two other competition prizes, the gold medal of the University of Utrecht and the silver medal of the University of Groningen, both for research on the chemical bond.
1878
Kamerlingh Onnes in 1878.
1909
Kamerlingh Onnes, painted in 1909 by his brother Menso Kamerlingh Onnes.
1910
Kamerlingh Onnes received the Matteucci Medal in 1910.
1911
Brussels, Belgium
Photo of participants of the first Solvay Conference, in 1911, Brussels, Belgium. Kamerlingh Onnes stands near Einstein.
1912
Kamerlingh Onnes received the Rumford Medal in 1912.
1913
Second Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1913.
1915
Kamerlingh Onnes received the Franklin Medal in 1915.
1919
Cryogenics Laboratory in Leiden, 1919. People on the picture from left to right: Paul Ehrenfest, Hendrik Lorentz, Niels Bohr, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes.
1921
Third Solvay Conference, 1921.
1923
Kamerlingh Onnes in 1923.
1926
Kamerlingh Onnes in 1926.
1926
Kamerlingh Onnes in 1926.
University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Kamerlingh Onnes was admitted in 1870 to the University of Groningen, where he studied physics and mathematics. In November 1871 he passed the intermediate examination for the bachelor’s degree, whereupon he spent some time at Heidelberg. In April 1873 he returned to Groningen to complete his studies under R. A. Mees. In June 1876 he passed his doctoral examination, and on July 10, 1879, he defended his dissertation.
University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
At Heidelberg Kamerlingh Onnes studied for three semesters with Bunsen and Kirchhoff, a tenure that was made possible by the Seminarpreis. Earlier he had won two other competition prizes, the gold medal of the University of Utrecht and the silver medal of the University of Groningen, both for research on the chemical bond.
University of Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands
Bust of Kamerlingh Onnes at the University of Leiden.
Einstein, Ehrenfest, Kamerlingh Onnes and Weiss.
Kamerlingh Onnes and his wife with some colleagues and their friend Albert Einstein.
Johannes Diderik van der Waals and Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in Leiden in front of the helium-liquefactor.
educator inventor physicist scientist
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was born on September 21, 1853, in Groningen, Netherlands. He was one of seven children of Harm Kamerlingh Onnes, a well-known manufacturer in Groningen. His mother was Anna Gerdina Coers of Arnhem.
After attending secondary school, Kamerlingh Onnes was admitted in 1870 to the University of Groningen, where he studied physics and mathematics. In November 1871 he passed the intermediate examination for the bachelor’s degree, whereupon he spent some time at Heidelberg. There he studied for three semesters with Bunsen and Kirchhoff, a tenure that was made possible by the Seminarpreis. Earlier he had won two other competition prizes, the gold medal of the University of Utrecht and the silver medal of the University of Groningen, both for research on the chemical bond.
In April 1873 Kamerlingh Onnes returned to Groningen to complete his studies under R. A. Mees. In June 1876 he passed his doctoral examination, and on July 10, 1879, he defended his dissertation, entitled “Nieuwe bewijzen voor de aswenteling van de aarde” (“New Proofs for the Axial Rotation of the Earth”), a subject which, stimulated by Kirchhoff, he had started to study at Heidelberg. On the basis of this dissertation, in which he showed that he was also an excellent mathematician, he was awarded the doctorate magna cum laude.
In 1878 Kamerlingh Onnes was appointed an assistant to Johannes Bosscha, who was then the director of the Polytechnic School (later the Technical University) at Delft. In 1880-1882 he lectured there for Snijders and Bosscha. During this time he was in close contact with van der Waals, who was then professor of physics in Amsterdam, and thus he became acquainted with problems related to the molecular theory of matter. An indication of this is found in his article “Théorie générale de l’état fluide” (1884).
In 1882 P. L. Rijke, professor of physics at Leiden, retired and Kamerlingh Onnes was appointed his successor at the age of twenty-nine. In 1904 he founded a very large cryogenics laboratory and invited other researchers to the location, which made him highly regarded in the scientific community. The laboratory is known now as Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory.
The period in which Kamerlingh Onnes worked can be characterized as transitional for physics. The increasing importance of experimental physics is demonstrated by his appointment to the first chair of experimental physics in the Netherlands. Before then experimental and theoretical physics were not separated. On the other hand, the mechanistic image of physics was gradually being abandoned under the influence of Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism; physicists were also gradually coming to believe that matter is not a continuum but has a corpuscular nature. When Kamerlingh Onnes came to Leiden most physicists still adhered to the idea of continuity, but Boltzmann and van der Waals, in particular, were promoting the corpuscular theory.
When Kamerlingh Onnes received his appointment at Leiden, he made it his purpose to give experimental support to van der Waals’s theory of the behavior of gases and especially to the "law of corresponding states." This theory is based on the hypothesis that a gas consists of molecules circulating and exerting forces on each other. The law of corresponding states, which van der Waals had derived from his equation of state but which had a wider validity than for this form of the equation alone, says that all gases behave in exactly the same way and obey the same equation of state, when the units in which pressure, volume, and temperature are measured are adapted to the gas under specific consideration.
Kamerlingh Onnes was greatly interested in this theory, for he had concluded that the conformity in the behavior of gases could be found in “the stationary mechanical similarity of the substances,” as he stated in his Nobel address. He was “mightily attracted” by the idea of carrying out precise measurements in order to verify the results of this theory. For this purpose, he would have to consider the behavior of gases with simple molecules having low condensation temperatures. Moreover, since it would be important to have a large range of temperatures at his disposal, it was desirable to use the lowest temperatures possible.
Just five years earlier, in December 1877, Cailletet and Pictet, using different methods, had liquefied air for the first time and so opened this new temperature region. It was necessary for Kamerlingh Onnes first to build an apparatus for the liquefaction of air in large quantities. Here the advantage of his method became evident. He did his work with great accuracy and perseverance, systematically, and with attention to all details, thus obtaining important results and advancing far ahead of all other researchers in this field. In 1892 his apparatus for the “cascade method” (using liquid methyl chloride and ethylene) for the liquefaction of oxygen and air was ready. (Boiling points of oxygen and air of normal composition are -183° C and -193° C, respectively.) In the meantime, much information was obtained about the behavior of pure gases and binary gas mixtures, a study that could be extended, after 1892, to lower temperatures.
The research of Kamerlingh Onnes and his collaborators followed two lines, one related to van der Waals’s theories (equation of state, viscosity, capillarity), and the other to the theoretical work of Lorentz (magnetorotation of the plane of polarization, Kerr effect, Hall effect).
The study of the resistance of metals was Kamerlingh Onnes’ second major field. Originally accepting the idea expressed in 1902 by Kelvin, he expected that with decreasing temperature the resistance, after reaching a minimum value, would become infinite as electrons condensed on the metal atoms. Later, when this proved to contradict experimental results, he supposed that the resistance, caused by Planck vibrators which lose their energy at low temperatures, would become zero. This proved to be true although, for certain metals, in a way different from that he expected. In order to diminish the influence of impurities, very pure mercury resistors were prepared. To Kamerlingh Onnes' great surprise the resistance showed a discontinuous decrease to zero. Discovered in 1911, this phenomenon, which he called supraconductivity (later superconductivity), was found for various metals having different transition points, all at very low temperatures. J. Bardeen, J. N. Cooper, and J. R. Schrieffer gave a theoretical explanation of this phenomenon in 1957.
Kamerlingh Onnes had originally hoped that this property would allow him to establish strong magnetic fields without cooling difficulties; but he soon found that the superconductive state disappears in a magnetic field of a temperature-dependent value, never very high in the cases he studied. Also, a current sent through a superconducting wire destroys the superconductive state by its own magnetic field. Only today, after the discovery of alloys that can support strong fields, is it possible to take advantage of superconductivity for cheap production of very intense magnetic fields.
Kamerlingh Onnes was also concerned with the application of low temperatures in everyday matters such as food preservation, refrigerated transport, and the production of ice. In 1908, at the opening ceremonies of the first International Congress of Refrigeration in Paris, he "formally proposed the creation of an international organization of refrigeration which would further the work of the congress." He insisted that one of the commissions be devoted to scientific problems.
Quotations: "In my opinion it is necessary that in the experimental study of physics the striving for quantitative research, which means for the tracing of measure relations in the phenomena, must be in the foreground. I should like to write 'Door meten tot weten' ("Through measuring to knowing") as a motto above each physics laboratory."
In the Netherlands Kamerlingh Onnes stimulated the foundation of the Nederlandsche Vereeniging voor Koeltechniek, of which he was president until his death. Another organization for which he was responsible was the Vereeniging tot Bevordering van de Opleiding tot Instrumentmaker (1901). He was also a member of many scientific societies, including the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1883), the Royal Society (1916), the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (1925), the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, and the French Academy of Sciences.
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences , Netherlands
1883
Royal Society , United Kingdom
1916
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina , Germany
1925
Academy of Sciences of the USSR , Russia
Russian Academy of Sciences , Russia
Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences , Germany
French Academy of Sciences , France
In conducting his research and developing the necessary facilities Kamerlingh Onnes showed an enormous capacity for work. His strong will and the great devotion and care of his wife, Elisabeth, enabled him to achieve what he did.
Physical Characteristics: It is known that Kamerlingh Onnes was in very delicate health.
Kamerlingh Onnes married Maria Adriana Wilhelmina Elisabeth Bijleveld in 1887, and had one child, Albert.