Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was a Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate. He exploited the Hampson–Linde cycle to investigate how materials behave when cooled to nearly absolute zero and later to liquefy helium for the first time, in 1908. He also discovered superconductivity in 1911.
Paul Ehrenfest was an Austrian theoretical physicist who made major contributions to the field of statistical mechanics and its relations with quantum mechanics, including the theory of phase transition and the Ehrenfest theorem. He befriended Albert Einstein on a visit to Prague in 1912 and became a professor in Leiden, where he frequently hosted Einstein. He died by murder-suicide in 1933; he killed his disabled son Wassik, and then himself.
Leiden University is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. It was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, making it the oldest institution of higher education in the Netherlands.
The Delft University of Technology is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022, it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among the top 10 Engineering and Technology universities in the world. In 2023, it was ranked 2nd in the world in civil engineering, 3rd in the world in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and 3rd in the world in architecture.
Willem Hendrik Keesom was a Dutch physicist who, in 1926, invented a method to freeze liquid helium. He also developed the first mathematical description of dipole–dipole interactions in 1921. Thus, dipole–dipole interactions are also known as Keesom interactions. He was previously a student of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, who had discovered superconductivity.
Pieter Zeeman was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect.
Johannes Diderik van der Waals was a Dutch theoretical physicist and thermodynamicist famous for his pioneering work on the equation of state for gases and liquids. Van der Waals started his career as a schoolteacher. He became the first physics professor of the University of Amsterdam when in 1877 the old Athenaeum was upgraded to Municipal University. Van der Waals won the 1910 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids.
Liquid helium is a physical state of helium at very low temperatures at standard atmospheric pressures. Liquid helium may show superfluidity.
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave is a museum of the history of science and medicine, based in Leiden, Netherlands. The museum hosts a collection of historical scientific instruments from all disciplines, but mainly from medicine, physics, and astronomy.
Wander Johannes de Haas was a Dutch physicist and mathematician. He is best known for the Shubnikov–de Haas effect, the De Haas–Van Alphen effect and the Einstein–de Haas effect.
The Solvay Conferences have been devoted to preeminent unsolved problems in both physics and chemistry. They began with the historic invitation-only 1911 Solvay Conference on Physics, considered a turning point in the world of physics, and are ongoing.
Johannes Bosscha Jr. was a Dutch physicist.
Petrus Leonardus Rijke was a Dutch physicist, and a professor in experimental physics at the University of Leiden. Rijke spent his scientific career exploring the physics of electricity, and is known for the Rijke tube. On 1 July 1852 he married Johanna Hamaker. They had 6 sons and 6 daughters.
Johannes Petrus Kuenen was a Dutch physicist.
Harm Henrick Kamerlingh Onnes was a Dutch portrait painter and ceramist, who also produced designs for stamps and stained-glass windows. He is best known for the small, humorous vignettes of everyday life.
Cornelis Jacobus (Cor) Gorter was a Dutch experimental and theoretical physicist. Among other work, he discovered paramagnetic relaxation and was a pioneer in low temperature physics.
Tettje Clay-Jolles (1881–1972) was one of the first female Dutch physicists. She studied the variation of atmospheric radiation with geographic latitude.
Thomas Blondeau was a Flemish writer, poet and journalist. He studied literature at the University of Leuven and the University of Leiden. He wrote for newspapers including Mare, Deng, De Revisor, De Standaard and Dif.
Julius Huibert Terpstra is a Dutch politician, who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the years 2020–21. He is a member of the political party Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He had served as duoraadslid in the Leiden municipal council and as chair of Christian Democratic Youth Appeal, CDA's youth organization. Following his membership of the House, Terpstra returned to Leiden politics and became alderman for construction following the 2022 municipal elections, having been his party's lead candidate.
Fred Schonewille is a Dutch lawyer, lecturer and former politician.
