Willem Hendrik Keesom

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Willem Hendrik Keesom
Willem Hendrik Keesom
Born	June 21, 1876 Texel
Died	March 24, 1956 Leiden
Nationality	Dutch
Fields	physics
Doctoral advisor	Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Known for	helium

Willem Hendrik Keesom (June 21, 1876, Texel – March 24, 1956, Leiden) 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 (a feat for which Kamerlingh Onnes received a Nobel Prize).

[edit] External links

• Albert van Helden, Willem Hendrik Keesom 1876 – 1956, In: K. van Berkel, A. van Helden and L. Palm ed., A History of Science in the Netherlands. Survey, Themes and Reference (Leiden: Brill, 1999) 498-500.
• Scientists of the Dutch School: Willem Hendrik Keesom @ Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• P.H. van Laer, Keesom, Wilhelmus Hendrikus (1876-1956), in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland.