Johannes Petrus Kuenen (

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

, 11 October 1866 – Leiden, 25 September 1922) was a Dutch

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

Biography

Kuenen was the son of the professor of theology

Abraham Kuenen Abraham Kuenen (16 September 1828 – 10 December 1891) was a Dutch Protestant theologian. Kuenen was born in Haarlem, the son of an apothecary. On his father's death it became necessary for him to leave school and take a humble place in the bus ...

and his wife Wiepkje Muurling. His son Philip Henry Kuenen was professor of geology. From 1884 to 1889 he studied 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 ...

, where he graduated in 1892. He became a professor in physics in 1895 at

University College, Dundee A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland, where he worked until 1907. For most of this period the College was part of the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. While at Dundee he performed early experiments with

x-rays An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nbs ...

with the physiologist

Edward Waymouth Reid Edward Waymouth Reid FRS (11 October 1862, Canterbury – 10 March 1948, Edinburgh) was a British physiologist. Born the fourth son of James, Reid, F.R.C.S.E., E. Waymouth Reid was educated at Sutton Valence Grammar School and then matriculat ...

. In 1907 he was appointed professor of physics at Leiden University.

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 Kuenen led the Kamerlingh Onnes physics Laboratory. On the basis of his scientific work he was elected in 1911 as a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), and became a member of the

Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen The Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities), located on the east side of the Spaarne in downtown Haarlem, Netherlands, was established in 1752 and is the oldest society for the scie ...

in 1915.

Retrograde condensation

He discovered

retrograde condensation Retrograde condensation occurs when gas in a tube is compressed beyond the point of condensation with the effect that the liquid evaporates again. This is the opposite of condensation: the so-called retrograde condensation. Description If the volu ...

and published his findings in 1892 in the Ph.D. thesis with the title "". (Measurements on the

Van der Waals surface The Van der Waals surface of a molecule is an abstract representation or model of that molecule, illustrating where, in very rough terms, a surface might reside for the molecule based on the hard cutoffs of Van der Waals radii for individual at ...

for mixtures of carbonic acid and methyl

chloride The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride sa ...

References

External links

Scientists of the Dutch School. Kuenen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuenen, Johannes Petrus 1866 births 1922 deaths Dutch academics 20th-century Dutch physicists Academic staff of Leiden University Academics of the University of Dundee Academics of the University of St Andrews Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences 19th-century Dutch physicists Leiden University alumni