CHAPTER 4 - Low Temperature Research

Abstract

This chapter discusses F. E. Simon's course to low temperature research. Those who knew Simon at the Physikalisch-Chemisches Instituí were astonished at how quickly he rose from a junior to a senior position. Until he became a Privatdozent in 1925, he was merely Nernst's assistant and by the end of 1930, when he was appointed a professor at Breslau, he had made a name for himself in the world of physics, had published more than forty papers, and had supervised the work of a number of research students, most of whom in their turn became distinguished low temperature physicists. To carry out his low temperature experiments, Simon needed both liquid hydrogen and liquid helium; one of his primary concerns was the development of satisfactory liquefiers. The experiments carried out by Simon and his team in the temperature ranges of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium were largely concerned with Nernst's heat theorem, which gave a great stimulus to low temperature work.