Wander Johannes de Haas (2 March 1878 – 26 April 1960) was a Dutch physicist and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

. He is best known for the

Shubnikov–de Haas effect An oscillation in the conductivity of a material that occurs at low temperatures in the presence of very intense magnetic fields, the Shubnikov–de Haas effect (SdH) is a macroscopic manifestation of the inherent quantum mechanical nature of matter ...

, the De Haas–Van Alphen effect and the

Einstein–de Haas effect The Einstein–de Haas effect is a physical phenomenon in which a change in the magnetic moment of a free body causes this body to rotate. The effect is a consequence of the conservation of angular momentum. It is strong enough to be observable in ...

Personal life

Wander de Haas was born in

Lisse Lisse () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Western Netherlands. The municipality, which lies within the Duin- en Bollenstreek, covers an area of of which is water. Its population was in . Located within the mun ...

, a small town near

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 wit ...

. He was the son of Albertus de Haas, principal of the Teacher's College in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

, and Maria Efting. On 22 December 1910 he married Geertruida Luberta Lorentz, the eldest daughter of

Hendrik Lorentz Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (; 18 July 1853 – 4 February 1928) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect. He also derived the Lorentz t ...

. They had two daughters and two sons. He was an atheist.

Education

After attending high school in

, De Haas started

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...

studies in 1895. After completion of two of three parts of the examinations and having worked in a lawyer's office for some time, he decided to change career and become a

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 caus ...

instead. After passing the qualifications exams for admission to University, he started to study

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

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 ...

in 1900 under

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

Johannes Petrus Kuenen Johannes Petrus Kuenen (Leiden, 11 October 1866 – Leiden, 25 September 1922) was a Dutch physicist. Biography Kuenen was the son of the professor of theology Abraham Kuenen and his wife Wiepkje Muurling. His son Philip Henry Kuenen was pro ...

. He earned his doctorate in 1912, under Kamerlingh Onnes, with a thesis entitled: ''Measurements on the Compressibility of Hydrogen''.

Career

After getting his degree, De Haas worked in Berlin as a researcher at the Physikalische Reichsanstalt. Then he returned to the Netherlands, worked as a schoolteacher in

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

, a conservator of the

Teylers Museum Teylers Museum () is an art, natural history, and science museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. Established in 1778, Teylers Museum was founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The historic centre of the museum is the neoclassical Oval R ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

, and then a physics professor in Delft Technical School and

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 ...

. In 1925, he became a professor in Leiden, and one of the two heads of the Laboratory of physics, succeeding Kamerlingh Onnes. In 1948, De Haas retired. An example of the equipment (an electromagnet of c.1930) used for his low-temperature research can be seen in the Boerhaave Museum, the history of science museum in Leiden. In 1922 he became 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 ...

. Twenty years later, in 1942, he was forced to resign. After World War II ended in 1945, he was allowed to rejoin as a member.

References

External links

de Haas' math genealogy
* Albert van Helden, ''Biography,'
Wander Johannes de Haas 1878–1960
(Digital Library of Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science

. Originally published in: K. van Berkel, A. van Helden and L. Palm, ed., ''A History of Science in The Netherlands,'' Survey, Themes and Reference, pp. 454–456 (Leiden, Brill, 1999).
Wander Johannes de Haas, 1878–1960
@ Instituut-Lorentz for theoretical physics * J. van den Handel
''Haas, Wander Johannes de (1878–1960)''
in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland. {{DEFAULTSORT:Haas, Wander Johannes De 1878 births 1960 deaths Dutch atheists 20th-century Dutch physicists Leiden University alumni Delft University of Technology faculty Leiden University faculty Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Lisse