Gilles Holst (20 March 1886 – 11 October 1968) was a Dutch physicist, known worldwide for his invention of the
low-pressure sodium lamp in 1932.
Early life
His father was a manager of a shipyard. In 1904 he went to
ETH Zurich to study mechanical engineering, switching to mathematics and physics after a year.
Career
He worked with
Balthasar van der Pol, known for the
Van der Pol oscillator, and
Frans Michel Penning, known for
Penning ionization and the
Penning mixture. 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 at
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
. At Leiden, it is believed that he was the first to witness the phenomenon of
superconductivity. In 1926 he became a member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The
Gilles Holst Award was first awarded in 1939.
Personal life
He died in the Netherlands 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