THROUGH MEASUREMENT TO KNOWLEDGE BOSTON STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Editor ROBERT S. COHEN, Boston University Editorial Advisory Board ADOLF GRONBAUM, University of Pittsburgh SYLVAN S. SCHWEBER, Brandeis University JOHN J. STACHEL, Boston University MARX W. WARTOFSKY, Baruch College of the City University of New York VOLUME 124 HElKE KAMERLINGH ONNES THROUGH MEASUREMENT TO KNOWLEDGE The Selected Papers of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes 1853-1926 Edited with an Introductory Essay by KOSTAS GAV ROGLU National Technical University ofA thens and YORGOS GOUDAROULIS Aristotle University ofThessaloniki KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS DORDRECHT I BOSTON I LONDON Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kamerlingh annes, Heike, 1853-1926. Heike Kamerlingh annes through measurement to knowledge, the selected papers of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, 1853-1926 with a bibl iography of works by Heike Kamerl ingh annes I edited by Kostas Gavroglu, Yorgos Goudaroul is. p. cm. -- (Boston studies in the philosophy of science; v. 124) Includes bib1 iographical references. 1. Low temperatures. 2. Thermodynamics. I. Gavroglu, Kostas. II. Goudaroulis, Yorgos. III. Title. IV. Series. 0174.B67 vol. 124 [OC278] 001' .01 s--dc20 [536' .56] 90-4810 ISBN-13: 978-94-010-7433-9 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-2079-8 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-2079-8 Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Kluwer Academic Publishers incorporates the publishing programmes of D. Reidel, Martinus Nijhoff, Dr W. Junk and MTP Press. Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 101 Philip Drive, Norwell, MA 02061, U.S.A. In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved © 1991 Kluwer Academic Publishers Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1991 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ix THE REMARKABLE WORK OF "LE GENTLEMAN DU ZERO ABSOLU" by K. Gavroglu and Y. Goudaroulis xiii Introduction xiii Van der Waals and the law of corresponding states xxi Thomas Andrews and the continuity of the transition from the gaseous to the liquid state xxxiv Maxwell's objections xxxv Kamerlingh Onnes's researches on the equation of state xxxviii Properties of liquid helium Iv Researches in electricity lxvi Researches on the Hall effect lxxviii Researches in magnetism lxxx Concluding remarks lxxxviii Notes lxxxix THE CRYOGENIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF H. KAMERLINGH ONNES by R. de Bruyn Ouboter XCVll SELECTED PAPERS OF H. KAMERLINGH ONNES A. General 1. "On the cryogenic laboratory at Leiden and on the produc tion of very low temperatures" 3 2. "The importance of accurate measurements at very low temperatures" 31 3. "Further experiments with liquid helium. P. On the lowest temperature yet obtained" 59 B. Thermodynamic Researches (Equation of State) 4. "Theorie generale de l'etat fluide" 89 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS 5. "Remarks on the liquefaction of hydrogen, on thermodynami- cal similarity and on the use of vacuum vessels" 125 6. "Expression of the equation of state of gases and liquids by means of series" 146 7. "The liquefaction of helium" 164 8. "Further experiments with liquid helium. E. A helium cryostat. Remarks on the preceding communications" 188 9. "Further experiments with liquid helium. U. (Isotherms of monatomic substances and their binary mixtures. XXIV). Isotherms of helium at 4.2°K and lower" co-authored with J.D.A. Boks 195 C. Properties of Liquid Helium 10. "Further experiments with liquid helium. A. Isotherms of monatomic gases etc. VIII. Thermal properties of helium" 201 11. "Further experiments with liquid helium. V. The variation of density of liquid helium below the boiling point" co-authored with J.D.A. Boks 221 12. "Further experiments with liquid helium. BB. Preliminary determinations of the specific heat of liquid helium" co-authored with L.I. Dana 227 D. Electrical Researches 13. "On phosphorescence at very low temperatures" co-authored with Henri and Jean Becquerel 236 14. "Further experiments with liquid helium. B. On the change in the resistance of pure metals at very low temperatures, etc. III. The resistance of platinum at very low temperatures" 252 15. "Further experiments with liquid helium. C. On the change of electric resistance of pure metals at very low temperatures etc. IV. The resistance of pure mercury at helium tempera- tures" 261 16. "Further experiments with liquid helium. D. On the change of electrical resistance of pure metals at very low tempera tures etc. V. The disappearance of the resistance of mercury" 264 17. "Further experiments with liquid helium. G. On the electrical resistance of pure metals, etc. VI. On the sudden TABLE OF CONTENTS vii change in the rate at which the resistance of mercury disappears" 267 18. "Further experiments with liquid helium. H. On the electrical resistance of pure metals, etc. VII. The potential difference necessary for the electrical current through mercury below 4. 19°K" 273 19. "Further experiments with liquid helium. H. On the electrical resistance etc. (continued). VIII. The sudden disappearance of the ordinary resistance of tin, and the superconductive state oflead" 315 20. "Further experiments with liquid helium. I. The Hall-effect, and the magnetic change in resistance in supraconductors which are brought into a magnetic field, at low tempera- tures. IX. The appearance of galvanic resistance at a threshold value of the field" 333 21. "Further experiments with liquid helium. J. The imitation of an Ampere molecular current or of a permanent magnet by means of a supra-conductor" 340 22. "Further experiments with liquid helium. L. The persistence of current without electromotive force in supraconducting circuits. (Continuation of J)" 356 23. "Further experiments with liquid helium. AA. The distur- bance of supra-conductivity by magnetic fields and currents. The hypothesis of Silsbee" co-authored with W. Tuyn 363 E. Magnetic Researches 24. "Researches on magnetization at very low temperatures" co-authored with Pierre Weiss 388 25. "Researches on the magnetization ofliquid and solid oxygen" co-authored with Albert Perrier 422 26. "Reseaches on magnetism. III. On para-and dia-magnetism at very low temperatures" co-authored with Albert Perrier 464 27. "Magnetic investigations. XIII. The susceptibility of liquid mixtures of oxygen and nitrogen, and the influence of the mutual distance of the molecules upon paramagnetism" co-authored with Albert Perrier 472 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORS' NOTES 491 Notes for Al 491 Notes for A2 494 Notes for A3 497 Notes forB4 501 Notes forB5 501 Notes forB6 503 Notes forB7 503 Notes forB8 506 Notes forB9 506 Notes for ClO 507 Notes for CII 508 Notes for C12 508 Notes for D13 509 Notes for D14 510 Notes for DIS 510 Notes for D16 511 Notes for D17 511 Notes for D 18 511 Notes for D19 514 Notes for D20 515 Notes for D21 515 Notes for D22 516 Notes for D23 516 Notes for E24 517 Notes for E25 518 Notes for E26 518 Notes for E27 519 PUBLISHED WORKS OF H. KAMERLINGH ONNES 521 BIBLIOGRAPHY 541 NAME INDEX 565 PREFACE "Tile; D'apC:Tile; l.DpWTa ()coi 7rpo7rapod)w £D 'T}K,mi'. "between us and Goodness the gods have placed the sweat of our brows". This quote from Isiodos, the first lyrical poet, is jotted on a sheet of paper found among the papers of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes at the Boerhaave Museum, Leiden. On this same sheet, one can also read quotes from Schiller, Goethe, Shakespeare, Homer, Pindar and Dante. Each quote is for somebody or something. It appears to have been a game played at least by Ehrenfest and Crommelin -an unmistakable sign of these two physicists's deep culture. This particular quote was for the "Werkplaats", the Physical Laboratory of the University of Leiden. Our purpose in putting together the Selected Papers of its first Director, Kamerlingh Onnes (1853-1926), is to try and articulate the dominant trends of a different type of culture at Leiden: its physics culture during the years that established low temperature physics as a distinct branch of physics. Our aims in choosing the particular papers are threefold. First, we wish to present the interconnectedness among the different research programs of Kamerlingh Onnes and to bring out the decisive role of the work initiated by van der Waals in determining the direction of nearly all of these research programs. Second, we want to argue that Kamerlingh Onnes' s work, to the extent that it contributed so dramatically to the establishment of a new area, that of cryophysics, presents an instructive case for examining a rather neglected aspect in the study of the emergence of new subject areas. The methodological trends that appear to be particular to this specific branch of physics as it has been established and developed at Leiden. It is our claim that the gradual appearance of a new branch within a particular scientific discipline (in our case, low temperature physics within physics) is accom panied by a series of methodological novelties particular to the specific branch that delineate its autonomous status. Third, a detailed investigation of the work at Leiden during this particular period may be suggestive of possible differences with respect to the trends followed in other laboratories, and these differences may be indicative of differences in styles of research - and even of national styles. In the introductory text we have a few biographical details of Kamerlingh Onnes and before proceeding to a detailed analysis of the three main research programs (in thermodynamics and the equation of state, in electricity and in ix x PREFACE magnetism), we discuss the early work of Diderik van der Waals (especially his equation of state and the law of corresponding states), its relation to the findings of Thomas Andrews and Maxwell's reactions to it. There is also a section about the liquefaction of helium and the properties of liquid helium, where we include some new material that throw some light on the difficulties encountered by Kamerlingh Onnes few months before the liquefaction of helium. The chapter written by Rudolf de Bruyn Ouboter deals with the developments in instrumentation before the liquefaction of helium, and describes the apparatus used for this purpose. The papers are divided in five categories. In the first are those intended for a more general audience, and our notes are much more detailed than for the other papers. The titles of the papers in the other four sections are self-explanatory, and in addition to our overall aims, we try to emphasize the most significant contributions of Kamerlingh Onnes. The introductory text does not attempt to be a substitute for a biography of Kamerlingh Onnes. Nor do we deal with the exceedingly significant relationship of the developments in low temperature physics with technologi cal developments. It would, indeed, be an interesting undertaking to write the history of refrigeration. It is, rather, an attempt to raise a series of methodological and historical issues concerning the establishment of low temperature physics as a "separate" branch and its development that was so heavily influenced by Leiden's physics culture. This volume owes its completion to the constant encouragement of Professor Robert S. Cohen of Boston University. His enthusiasm is con tegious and we feel lucky to have been caught in its spell. Prof. Rudolf de Bruyn Ouboter and Prof. Hans van Duyneveldt of the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory of the University of Leiden have done their utmost to help us with our project. Detailed discussions with Prof. Sam Schweber of Brandeis University and Harvard, and Prof. Peter Harman of Lancaster University helped us clarify many points, and more significantly, they made us more sensitive to a number of historical issues. We also thank Prof. Aristides Baltas of National Technical University, Athens; Professors Erwin Hiebert, Gerald Holton and Everett Mendelsohn of Harvard University; Prof. Nancy Nersessian of Princeton University; Theodore Arabatzis, Maria Yamalidou and Christos Nasiopoulos, graduate students at the Universities of Princeton, Lancaster and Thessaloniki. We made extensive use of various archives. We thank Dr. A.C. van HeIden and H.J.F.M. Leechburch Auwers of Boerhaave Museum, Leiden where the papers of Kamerlingh Onnes are kept; Mrs. I.M. McCabe, Librarian at the Royal Institution, London where the Dewar papers are; Ms. C. Anderson of