It's Cold in Leiden This Time of Year

[beamjockey]

I've just noticed that Thursday, 10 July, is the 100th anniversary of the first liquefaction of helium. It happened in Leiden, in Heike Kammerlingh Onnes's lab.

In a good article in the March 2008 Physics Today, Dirk van Delft portrays the rivalry between Kammerlingh Onnes and James Dewar of Cambridge (who had liquefied hydrogen, and who invented the invaluable Dewar flask) in the suspenseful race to obtain the first drop of liquid helium.
(PDF of article here.)

Liquid helium is, of course, the key to exploring temperatures near absolute zero. It's been essential to a great variety of physics experiments, and we use it every day in the Tevatron, MRI magnets, and other superconducting devices.

I don't know the best way to celebrate. Sing in a high-pitched voice. Maybe drink something cold.

Comments

[liveavatar.livejournal.com]

Both already done, as it happens.

Have a slice of this nice flash-frozen cake.