James Dewar - wikipedia James Dewar For other people named James Dewar, see James Dewar ( disambiguation ). Sir James Dewar Sir James Dewar FRS ( 1842 - 09 - 20 ) 20 September 1842 Kincardine - on - Forth, Scotland 27 March 1923 ( 1923 - 03 - 27 ) ( aged 80 ) London, England Nationality Scottish / British Alma mater University of Edinburgh Known for Liquid oxygen Liquid hydrogen Awards Hodgkins gold medal ( Smithsonian Institution ) Lavoisier Medal ( French Academy of Sciences ) Albert Medal ( Royal Society of Arts ) Rumford Medal ( 1894 ) Franklin Medal ( 1919 ) Scientific career Fields Physics Chemistry Institutions Royal Institution Peterhouse, Cambridge Doctoral advisor Lord Playfair Sir James Dewar FRS FRSE ( 20 September 1842 -- 27 March 1923 ) was a Scottish chemist and physicist. He is probably best known today for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with extensive research into the liquefaction of gases. He was also particularly interested in atomic and molecular spectroscopy, working in these fields for more than 25 years. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Family 4 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 5 Honours and awards 6 Character 7 Selected publications 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links Early life James Dewar was born in Kincardine, Perthshire ( now in Fife ) in 1842, the youngest of six boys of Thomas Dewar, a vintner, and his wife, Ann Dewar. James was educated at Kincardine Parish School and then Dollar Academy. He lost his parents when he was 15, soon after leaving the Academy, but was still able to attend University of Edinburgh. There he studied chemistry under Lyon Playfair ( later Baron Playfair ) and became Playfair 's personal assistant. Dewar also studied under August Kekulé at Ghent. Career In 1875, Dewar was elected Jacksonian professor of natural experimental philosophy at the University of Cambridge, becoming a fellow of Peterhouse. He became a member of the Royal Institution and later, in 1877, replaced Dr. John Hall Gladstone in the role of Fullerian Professor of Chemistry. Dewar was also the President of the Chemical Society in 1897 and the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1902, as well as serving on the Royal Commission established to examine London 's water supply from 1893 to 1894 and the Committee on Explosives. Whilst he was serving on the Committee on Explosives, Frederick Augustus Abel and he developed cordite, a smokeless gunpowder alternative. In 1867 Dewar described several chemical formulas for benzene. One of the formulae, which does not represent benzene correctly and was not advocated by Dewar, is sometimes still called Dewar benzene. In 1869 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposer being his former mentor, Lyon Playfair. His scientific work covers a wide field -- his earlier papers cover a wide range of topics : organic chemistry, hydrogen and its physical constants, high - temperature research, the temperature of the Sun and of the electric spark, spectrophotometry, and the chemistry of the electric arc. With professor J.G. McKendrick, of Glasgow, he investigated the physiological action of light and examined the changes that take place in the electrical condition of the retina under its influence. With professor G.D. Liveing, one of his colleagues at Cambridge, he began in 1878 a long series of spectroscopic observations, the later of which were devoted to the spectroscopic examination of various gaseous elements separated from atmospheric air by the aid of low temperatures ; he was joined by professor J.A. Fleming, of University College London, in the investigation of the electrical behaviour of substances cooled to very low temperatures. Sir James Dewar at work His name is most widely known in connection with his work on the liquefaction of the so - called permanent gases and his researches at temperatures approaching absolute zero. His interest in this branch of physics and chemistry dates back at least as far as 1874, when he discussed the `` Latent Heat of Liquid Gases '' before the British Association. In 1878, he devoted a Friday evening lecture at the Royal Institution to the then - recent work of Louis Paul Cailletet and Raoul Pictet, and exhibited for the first time in Great Britain the working of the Cailletet apparatus. Six years later, again at the Royal Institution, he described the researches of Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski and Karol Olszewski, and illustrated for the first time in public the liquefaction of oxygen and air. Soon afterward, he built a machine from which the liquefied gas could be drawn off through a valve for use as a cooling agent, before using the liquid oxygen in research work related to meteorites ; about the same time, he also obtained oxygen in the solid state. James Dewar 's vacuum flask in the museum of the Royal Institution By 1891, he had designed and built, at the Royal Institution, machinery which yielded liquid oxygen in industrial quantities, and towards the end of that year, he showed that both liquid oxygen and liquid ozone are strongly attracted by a magnet. About 1892, the idea occurred to him of using vacuum - jacketed vessels for the storage of liquid gases -- the Dewar flask ( otherwise known as a Thermos or vacuum flask ) -- the invention for which he became most famous. The vacuum flask was so efficient at keeping heat out, it was found possible to preserve the liquids for comparatively long periods, making an examination of their optical properties possible. Dewar did not profit from the widespread adoption of his vacuum flask -- he lost a court case against Thermos concerning the patent for his invention. While Dewar was recognised as the inventor because he did not patent his invention, no way to stop Thermos from using the design was possible. He next experimented with a high - pressure hydrogen jet by which low temperatures were realised through the Joule -- Thomson effect, and the successful results he obtained led him to build at the Royal Institution a large regenerative cooling refrigerating machine. Using this machine in 1898, liquid hydrogen was collected for the first time, solid hydrogen following in 1899. He tried to liquefy the last remaining gas, helium, which condenses into a liquid at − 268.9 ° C, but owing to a number of factors, including a short supply of helium, Dewar was preceded by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes as the first person to produce liquid helium, in 1908. Onnes would later be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research into the properties of matter at low temperatures -- Dewar was nominated several times, but never succeeded in winning the Nobel Prize. In 1905, he began to investigate the gas - absorbing powers of charcoal when cooled to low temperatures and applied his research to the creation of high vacuum, which was used for further experiments in atomic physics. Dewar continued his research work into the properties of elements at low temperatures, specifically low - temperature calorimetry, until the outbreak of World War I. The Royal Institution laboratories lost a number of staff to the war effort, both in fighting and scientific roles, and after the war, Dewar had little interest in restarting the serious research work that went on before the war. Shortages of scholars necessarily compounded the problems. His research during and after the war mainly involved investigating surface tension in soap bubbles, rather than further work into the properties of matter at low temperatures. Family He married Helen Rose Banks in 1871. They had no children. Helen was sister - in - law to both Charles Dickson, Lord Dickson and James Douglas Hamilton Dickson. His nephew, Dr Thomas William Dewar FRSE ( 1861 -- 1931 ) was an amateur artist, who painted a portrait of Sir James Dewar. He is presumably also the same Thomas William Dewar as mentioned as executor in James Dewar 's will, ultimately replaced `` unopposed '' by Dewar 's wife. Royal Institution Christmas Lectures Dewar was invited to deliver several Royal Institution Christmas Lectures : A Soap Bubble ( 1878 ) Atoms ( 1880 ) Alchemy in Relation to Modern Science ( 1883 ) The Story of a Meteorite ( 1885 ) The Chemistry of Light and Photography ( 1886 ) Clouds and Cloudland ( 1888 ) Frost and Fire ( 1890 ) Air : Gaseous and Liquid ( 1893 ) Christmas Lecture Epilogues ( 1912 ) Honours and awards A street sign in the Kings Buildings complex in Edinburgh in memory of James Dewar Whilst Dewar was never recognised by the Swedish Academy, he was recognised by many other institutions both before and after his death, in Britain and overseas. The Royal Society elected him a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1877 and bestowed their Rumford ( 1894 ), Davy ( 1909 ), and Copley Medal ( 1916 ) medals upon him for his work, as well as inviting him to deliver their Bakerian Lecture in 1901. In 1899, he became the first recipient of the Hodgkins gold medal of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, for his contributions to knowledge of the nature and properties of atmospheric air. In 1904, he was the first British subject to receive the Lavoisier Medal of the French Academy of Sciences, and in 1906, he was the first to be awarded the Matteucci Medal of the Italian Society of Sciences. He was knighted in 1904 and awarded the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize for 1900 -- 1904 by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and in 1908, he was awarded the Albert Medal of The Society of Arts. A lunar crater was named in his honour. A street within the Kings Buildings complex ( a group of science buildings linked to Edinburgh University ) was named in memory of Dewar in the early 21st century. Character Portrait by René le Brun, Comte de L'Hôpital, in the collection of the Royal Society of Chemistry Dewar 's irascibility was legendary. Rowlinson ( 2012 ) called him `` ruthless '', particularly with his colleague Siegfried Ruhemann. Selected publications George Downing Liveing ; James Dewar ( 1915 ). Collected Papers on Spectroscopy. University press., G.D. Living and J. Dewar, Cambridge University Press, 1915 Pippard, Brian. 1993. `` Siegfried Ruhemann ( 1859 - 1943 ), F.R.S. 1914 - 1923. '' Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 47 ( 2 ) : 271 -- 76. Rowlinson, Sir J.S. 2012. Sir James Dewar, 1842 -- 1923 : A Ruthless Chemist. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. See also Timeline of low - temperature technology Timeline of hydrogen technologies References ^ Jump up to : https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf Jump up ^ `` Dewar, James ( DWR875J ) ''. A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Jump up ^ Dewar, James ( 1867 ) `` On the oxidation of phenyl alcohol, and a mechanical arrangement adapted to illustrate structure in the non-saturated hydrocarbons, '' Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 6 : 82 -- 86. Jump up ^ Baker and Rouvray, Journal of Chemical Education, 1978, vol. 55, p. 645. Jump up ^ `` ABSOLUTE ZERO - PBS NOVA DOCUMENTARY ( full length ) ''. YouTube. Retrieved November 23, 2016. ^ Jump up to : James, Frank. `` Dewar, James ''. Chemistry Explained. Advameg Inc. Retrieved 22 May 2008. Jump up ^ http://kincardinehistory.com/?page_id=191 Jump up ^ `` Dr Thomas William Dewar ( 1861 - 1931 ) - Find A Grave Memorial ''. secure.findagrave.com. Retrieved 16 April 2018. Jump up ^ Sir James Dewar 1842 - 1923 : A Ruthless Chemist, by Sir JS Rawlinson Jump up ^ `` Library and Archive Catalogue ''. Royal Society. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2010. Jump up ^ Pippard 1993 ; Salzman 2000 Further reading Armstrong, H.E. ; Perkin, A.G. ; Armstrong, Henry E. ( 1928 ). `` Obituary of James Dewar ''. Journal of the Chemical Society : 1056 -- 1076. doi : 10.1039 / JR9280001056. Retrieved 30 August 2008. Bellis, Mary, `` Inventors Sir James Dewar '' from about.com Meiklejohn, William, `` Tulliallan : Four lads o ' pairts : Sir James Dewar ( 1842 -- 1923 ) '' from the Kincardine Local History Group Sella, Andrea ( August 2008 ). `` Dewar 's Flask ''. Chemistry World : 75. Retrieved 30 August 2008. Sloane, Thomas O'Conor ( 1900 ). Liquid Air, and the Liquefaction of Gases. Henley., Liquid Air and the Liquefaction of Gases, Norman W. Henley and Co., New York, 1900, second edition ( extensive description of Dewar 's work on the liqufaction of gases ) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Dewar. Wikisource has original works written by or about : James Dewar Fullerian Professorships Brief biography from the Royal Institution of Great Britain Brief biography and picture Another brief biography `` Archival material relating to James Dewar ''. UK National Archives. Correspondence with H.A. Kamerlingh Onnes, Dewar 's competitor in the race to liquid helium. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Chisholm, Hugh, ed. ( 1911 ). `` Dewar, Sir James ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. 8 ( 11th ed. ). Cambridge University Press. p. 137. Copley Medallists ( 1901 -- 1950 ) Josiah Willard Gibbs ( 1901 ) Joseph Lister ( 1902 ) Eduard Suess ( 1903 ) William Crookes ( 1904 ) Dmitri Mendeleev ( 1905 ) Élie Metchnikoff ( 1906 ) Albert A. Michelson ( 1907 ) Alfred Russel Wallace ( 1908 ) George William Hill ( 1909 ) Francis Galton ( 1910 ) George Darwin ( 1911 ) Felix Klein ( 1912 ) Ray Lankester ( 1913 ) J.J. Thomson ( 1914 ) Ivan Pavlov ( 1915 ) James Dewar ( 1916 ) Pierre Paul Émile Roux ( 1917 ) Hendrik Lorentz ( 1918 ) William Bayliss ( 1919 ) Horace Tabberer Brown ( 1920 ) Joseph Larmor ( 1921 ) Ernest Rutherford ( 1922 ) Horace Lamb ( 1923 ) Edward Albert Sharpey - Schafer ( 1924 ) Albert Einstein ( 1925 ) Frederick Gowland Hopkins ( 1926 ) Charles Scott Sherrington ( 1927 ) Charles Algernon Parsons ( 1928 ) Max Planck ( 1929 ) William Henry Bragg ( 1930 ) Arthur Schuster ( 1931 ) George Ellery Hale ( 1932 ) Theobald Smith ( 1933 ) John Scott Haldane ( 1934 ) Charles Thomson Rees Wilson ( 1935 ) Arthur Evans ( 1936 ) Henry Hallett Dale ( 1937 ) Niels Bohr ( 1938 ) Thomas Hunt Morgan ( 1939 ) Paul Langevin ( 1940 ) Thomas Lewis ( 1941 ) Robert Robinson ( 1942 ) Joseph Barcroft ( 1943 ) Geoffrey Ingram Taylor ( 1944 ) Oswald Avery ( 1945 ) Edgar Douglas Adrian ( 1946 ) G.H. Hardy ( 1947 ) Archibald Hill ( 1948 ) George de Hevesy ( 1949 ) James Chadwick ( 1950 ) BNF : cb16637701m ( data ) GND : 11609530X ISNI : 0000 0001 0717 8678 LCCN : n97803643 SNAC : w6x34z61 SUDOC : 085101087 VIAF : 10588893 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Dewar&oldid=840734269 '' Categories : 1842 births 1923 deaths People from Kincardine People educated at Dollar Academy Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Cordite Scottish chemists Scottish inventors Scottish physicists Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers Recipients of the Copley Medal Knights Bachelor Golders Green Crematorium Hidden categories : EngvarB from August 2014 Use dmy dates from August 2014 Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikisource Asturianu Azərbaycanca تۆرکجه Български Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Gàidhlig Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Kreyòl ayisyen Magyar Malagasy മലയാളം Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk nynorsk Piemontèis Polski Português Română Русский Scots Shqip Slovenčina Slovenščina Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Winaray 中文 38 more Edit links This page was last edited on 11 May 2018, at 20 : 20. 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Question: who has won the race to liquefy helium
Answer: Heike Kamerlingh Onnes