Horizons in physics: Cryogenics

Abstract

The present activity in low‐temperature physics research, together with the current rapid application of the results of this research to commercial and military uses, is on a far grander and, we may hope, on an equally significant scale as that occurring in that great period at the turn of the century which saw the birth of cryogenics. In the space of little over a decade at that time, the first major achievements in the production of low temperatures were realized, namely the liquefaction of air, hydrogen, and helium; new laboratories dedicated for the first time to low‐temperature research were established and through their work the frontiers of our physical knowledge were handsomely enlarged, especially concerning the early foundations of quantum theory. As if this were not enough, this early period saw the beginning of cryogenic engineering on a substantial scale in the almost immediate application of air liquefaction to the separation and production of liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen. This application of cryogenics, as we are now well aware, was destined to grow into a major industry, separating and supplying not only oxygen and nitrogen but also other gases and products. It is not my purpose to dwell on the many significant contributions which this industry makes to our complex society. I only wish to note how immediate were the uses it made, and still makes, of frontier knowledge in research.