Gilles Holst (20 March 1886 – 11 October 1968)
Biography Portal of the Netherlands
/ref> was a Dutch physicist, known worldwide for his invention in 1932 of the low-pressure sodium lamp.
Early life
His father was a manager of a shipyard. In 1904 he went to ETH Zurich
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, a ...
to study mechanical engineering, changing after a year to mathematics and physics.
Career
He worked with Balthasar van der Pol
Balthasar van der Pol (27 January 1889 – 6 October 1959) was a Dutch physicist.
Life and work
Van der Pol began his studies of physics in Utrecht in 1911. J. A. Fleming offered van der Pol the use of the Pender Electrical Laboratory at ...
, known for the Van der Pol oscillator
In dynamics, the Van der Pol oscillator is a non-conservative oscillator with non-linear damping. It evolves in time according to the second-order differential equation:
:-\mu(1-x^2)+x= 0,
where ''x'' is the position coordinate—which is a f ...
, and Frans Michel Penning, known for Penning ionization and the Penning mixture
A Penning mixture, named after Frans Michel Penning, is a mixture of gases used in electric lighting or displaying fixtures. Although the popular phrase for the most common of these is a neon lamp, it is more efficient to have the glass tube fill ...
. In 1908 he became a ''geprüfter Fachlehrer'', or qualified teacher. And most important,
he became the science director of the Philips Physics Laboratory in Eindhoven.
In 1909 he became an assistant to 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 ...
at Leiden University. At Leiden, it is believed that he was the first to witness the phenomenon of superconductivity.
The Gilles Holst Award was first awarded in 1939.
Personal life
He died in Holland at the age of 82.
References
External links
Holst Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holst, Gilles
1886 births
1968 deaths
20th-century Dutch physicists
ETH Zurich alumni
Academic staff of Leiden University
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Superconductivity