The Leiden Program; Nine Offprints on Low-Temperature Physics

Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1926. First Edition. 9 vols. Kamerlingh Onnes directed the Physical Laboratory at the University of Leiden for nearly four decades, building it into the foremost cryogenic research facility in the world. His was a program of extraordinary methodological ambition: gases compressed, cooled, and measured with a precision that no laboratory had previously achieved, all in pursuit of understanding matter at temperatures approaching absolute zero. Characteristically, Onnes published not only his experimental results but the instruments and infrastructure behind them, so that other scientists could replicate and extend his work; a practice that made the Communications series an authoritative record of the field as it developed. This systematic program led to the first liquefaction of helium in 1908, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913. These nine offprints from the Communications series, spanning 1901 to 1926, document the discoveries: the custom instruments designed for precision measurement under extreme cryogenic conditions, the mathematical frameworks developed to model gas behavior, the refrigeration systems that made ever-lower temperatures achievable, and, in the final papers, a new line of inquiry into the light emitted by gases frozen to solids at near-absolute-zero temperatures; a departure that extended the laboratory's reach from thermodynamics into optical and radiation physics. The majority are from the library of the Royal Society Mond Laboratory, Cambridge, itself one of the great cryogenic institutions and a direct heir to the Leiden tradition. Together they document a landmark chapter in the history of experimental physics. (1) [with] Hyndman, H. H. Francis. Isothermals of Diatomic Gases and Their Binary Mixtures. I. Piezometers of Variable Volume for Low Temperatures; in Communications from the Physical Laboratory at the University of Leiden No. 69. Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1901. Offprint, 8vo (233 × 152mm), pp. 10, [2], plus 2 inserted foldout diagrams of piezometers.

(2) Expression of the Equation of State of Gases and Liquids by Means of Series; in Communications from the Physical Laboratory at the University of Leiden No. 71. Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1901. Offprint, 8vo (233 × 154mm), pp. 25, [3].

(3) [with] Hyndman, H. H. Francis. Isothermals of Diatomic Gases and Their Binary Mixtures. II–IV; in Communications from the Physical Laboratory at the University of Leiden No. 78. Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1902. Offprint, 8vo (233 × 154mm), pp. 25, [3].

(4) Methods and Apparatus Used in the Cryogenic Laboratory. VI. The Methylchloride Circulation; in Communications from the Physical Laboratory at the University of Leiden No. 87. Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1903. Offprint, 8vo (233 × 154mm), pp. 14, [2], plus 2 inserted foldout diagrams.

(5) [with] Braak, C. Isotherms of Diatomic Gases and Their Binary Mixtures. VI. Isotherms of Hydrogen between 104°C and 217°C. On the Measurement of Very Low Temperatures. XIV. Reduction of the Readings of the Hydrogen-Thermometer of Constant Volume to the Absolute Scale; in Communications from the Physical Laboratory at the University of Leiden No. 97. Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1907. Offprint, 8vo (237 × 151mm), pp. 43, [1], plus 3 inserted foldout diagrams.

(6) [with] Mathias, E. The Rectilinear Diameter for Oxygen; in Communications from the Physical Laboratory of the University of Leiden No. 117. Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1911. Offprint, 8vo (242 × 158mm), pp. 23, [1], plus 2 inserted foldout diagrams.

(7) Vegard, L. The Luminescence from Solidified Gases down to the Temperature of Liquid Hydrogen and Its Application to Cosmic Phenomena; in Communications from the Physical Laboratory of the University of Leiden No. 175. Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1925. Offprint, 8vo (239 × 159mm), pp. 105, [3].

(8) [with] Keesom, W. H. The Luminescence of Solidified Gases at Liquid Helium Temperature; in Communications from the Physical Laboratory of the University of Leiden No. 183. Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1926. Offprint, 8vo (240 × 160mm), pp. 33, [1], plus 2 inserted plates.

(9) Vegard, L. Further Observations on the Luminescence from Solid Nitrogen at the Temperature of Liquid Hydrogen; in Communications from the Physical Laboratory of the University of Leiden Supplement No. 62 to Nos. 181–192. Leiden: Eduard IJdo, [c.1926]. Offprint, 8vo (239 × 159mm), pp. 7, [1], plus 1 inserted diagram.

Individual papers fully described HERE.