Dewar, Sir James (dy
`ər), 1842–1923, British chemist and physicist, b. Scotland. He was professor of chemistry (from 1877) at the Royal Institution, London, and later was director of the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory there. He is best known for his work on the properties of matter at very low temperatures (approaching absolute zero) and the liquefaction of gases, in the course of which he invented the Dewar flask and liquefied (1898) and solidified (1899) hydrogen. With Sir Frederick Abel he invented the smokeless explosive cordite. He was knighted in 1904.
`ər), 1842–1923, British chemist and physicist, b. Scotland. He was professor of chemistry (from 1877) at the Royal Institution, London, and later was director of the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory there. He is best known for his work on the properties of matter at very low temperatures (approaching absolute zero) and the liquefaction of gases, in the course of which he invented the Dewar flask and liquefied (1898) and solidified (1899) hydrogen. With Sir Frederick Abel he invented the smokeless explosive cordite. He was knighted in 1904.
Bibliography
See his Collected Papers (2 vol., 1927).
Dewar, Sir James
(born Sept. 20, 1842, Kincardine-on-Forth, Scot.—died March 27, 1923, London, Eng.) British chemist and physicist. In 1891 he built a machine for producing liquid oxygen in quantity. His Dewar flask for storing liquefied gases—a double-walled flask has insulating vacuum between the inner and outer walls—became essential in low-temperature scientific work; its principle is used in the Thermos bottle. Dewar was the first to liquefy and solidify hydrogen, and his 1905 discovery that cooled charcoal can help create high vacuums was useful in atomic physics.
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
| ?Page tools | ||
|---|---|---|
|