Gerardus Johannes Sizoo (8 November 1900 – 4 January 1994) was the first professor of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the

Vrije Universiteit The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

. He is notable for the establishment and development of the applied physics laboratory in 1930 and the establishment of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the

Education

His doctoral research explored the phenomenon of superconductivity at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

, following the lead of

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (21 September 1853 – 21 February 1926) 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 heliu ...

and

Wander Johannes de Haas Wander Johannes de Haas (2 March 1878 – 26 April 1960) 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. Personal life Wander de H ...

. He completed his PhD in 1926, with a thesis entitled: ''Onderzoekingen over den suprageleidenden toestand van metalen,'' under

Career

In as early as 1929, it was decided that Sizoo act as professor at the newly established Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. Despite his young age he was the only candidate who met the scientific requirements, the right beliefs, and had agreed to the task. Sizoo promoted the then emerging field of radioactivity, partly because there were no other laboratories in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

exploring this area depth. His own research focused on natural

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...

substances. Sizoo faced a difficult relationship between the reformed religion and science, in the 1930s. He wrote many publications on this relationship. In 1943 the

closed its doors, and scientific work in the ensuing time was much more difficult, despite efforts by Sizoo to keep the laboratory equipment from the hands of German occupiers. Shortly after 1945 Sizoo was one of the initiators of the creation of the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter. In addition, he held numerous positions in scientific institutes and committees. In 1965, at 65 years of age, Sizoo became an emeritus professor, and he continued writing on physics, the relationship between faith and science, and the significance of the science for the Christian foundation of the

References

*Ab Flipse, ''Hier leert de natuur ons zelf den weg: Een geschiedenis van Natuurkunde en Sterrenkunde aan de VU'', Uitgeverij Meinema, Zoetermeer, 2005, *Ab Flipse,
Natuurkunde en geloof: Gerardus Johannes Sizoo en de VU
', ''In de Marge'', Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 40–46 (2006). * Abraham C. Flipse, 'Against the Science-Religion Conflict: the Genesis of a Calvinist Science Faculty in the Netherlands in the Early Twentieth Century', ''Annals of Science'', Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 363–391 (2008).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sizoo, Gerardus 1900 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Dutch physicists People from Woerden