History of cryogenics: the epoch of the pioneers from the beginning to the year 1911

The invention of the thermometer by Galileo in 1592 may be considered as the start of the science of thermodynamics. Guillaume Amontons predicted for the first time the existence of an absolute zero in 1702, which marks the beginning of the science of low temperatures. Around 1780, the liquefaction of a gas was achieved for the first time. It took almost another 100 years before a so-called “permanent” gas, i.e. oxygen, was successfully liquefied. Thereafter Linde and Claude founded the cryogenic industry, which today has annual sales of more than 30 billion US $. Kamerlingh Onnes and his Cryogenic Laboratory in Leiden worked in the field of low temperature physics, which contributed to the experimental proof of the quantum theory.