Evert Johannes Willem Verwey, also Verweij, (April 30, 1905 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

– February 13, 1981 in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

, who also did research in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...

. Verwey studied chemistry at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

and obtained his MSc ( nl, Doctoraal Examen) in 1929. From 1931 he worked as an assistant at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

, where he obtained his PhD under the guidance of Hugo Rudolph Kruyt (1934, ''cum laude''). In 1934 he moved to the Philips Laboratories in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,colloids A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a liquid, while others extend ...

, which was also the topic of his dissertation, and on oxides. The

Verwey transition The Verwey transition is a low-temperature phase transition in the mineral magnetite associated with changes in its magnetic, electrical, and thermal properties. It typically occurs near a temperature of 120 K but is observed at a range of tempera ...

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With the ...

is named after him. Some of his studies on

transition metal oxides An oxide () is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion of oxygen, an O2– (molecular) ion. with oxygen in the oxidation state of −2. Most of the E ...

(carried out jointly with

de Boer __NOTOC__ De Boer is a Dutch occupational surname meaning "the farmer". Variant spellings include ''den Boer'' and ''DeBoer''. Notable people with this surname include: De Boer / DeBoer A * Ad de Boer (born 1946), Dutch politician and journalist *Al ...

) showed that some transition-metal oxides had electrical properties that could not be explained on the basis of

band theory In solid-state physics, the electronic band structure (or simply band structure) of a solid describes the range of energy levels that electrons may have within it, as well as the ranges of energy that they may not have (called ''band gaps'' or '' ...

. Between 1946 and 1967, together with physicist

Hendrik Casimir Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir (15 July 1909 – 4 May 2000) was a Dutch physicist best known for his research on the two-fluid model of superconductors (together with C. J. Gorter) in 1934 and the Casimir effect (together with D. Polder) in 1 ...

and the engineer Herre Rinia, he was director of the Laboratories. He is known for

DLVO theory The DLVO theory (named after Boris Derjaguin and Lev Landau, Evert Verwey and Theodoor Overbeek) explains the aggregation of aqueous dispersions quantitatively and describes the force between charged surfaces interacting through a liquid medium. ...

, a theory of the interaction of charged surfaces in fluids, which has applications, for example, in the description of colloids. In 1949 he became a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

. In 1967 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, 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 ...

. He was also a curator at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. He was married to the sociologist and politician Hilda Verwey-Jonker (1908–2004).

References

External links

Verwey's biography in the 1981-1982 Yearbook of the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences (in Dutch)
1905 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Dutch chemists Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Philips employees Scientists from Amsterdam University of Amsterdam alumni University of Groningen alumni {{Chemist-stub

See also

References

External links