Karol Olszewski
Encyclopedia
Karol Stanisław Olszewski (29 January 1846 – 24 March 1915) was a Polish
chemist
, mathematician
and physicist
.
High School in Tarnów
(I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Kazimierza Brodzińskiego). He studied at Kraków
's Jagiellonian University
in the departments of mathematics and physics, and chemistry and biology. He carried out his first experiments using a personally improved compressor, compressing and condensing carbon dioxide
.
Olszewski defended his doctoral dissertation at Heidelberg University, then returned to Kraków, where he was made profesor nadzwyczajny (associate professor).
In 1883, Zygmunt Wróblewski and Karol Olszewski were the first in the world to liquefy oxygen
, nitrogen
and carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere in a stable state (not, as had been the case up to then, in a dynamic state in the transitional form as vapor).
In 1884, in his Kraków laboratory, Olszewski was the first to liquefy hydrogen
in a dynamic state, achieving a record low temperature of -225 °C (48 K). In 1895 he liquefied argon
. He failed only to liquefy then-newly-discovered helium
.
In 1896, on hearing of Wilhelm Röntgen's work with x-rays, within a few days in early February Olszewski replicated it, thus initiating the university's department of radiology.
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
, mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
.
Life
Olszewski was a graduate of Kazimierz BrodzińskiKazimierz Brodzinski
Kazimierz Brodziński was an important Polish Romantic poet.- Life :He was born in Królówka near Bochnia. He came from the low nobility. He was a student at schools in Tarnów, where he also graduated from the grammar school. He served in the army of the Duchy of Warsaw...
High School in Tarnów
Tarnów
Tarnów is a city in southeastern Poland with 115,341 inhabitants as of June 2009. The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection...
(I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Kazimierza Brodzińskiego). He studied at Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
's Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
in the departments of mathematics and physics, and chemistry and biology. He carried out his first experiments using a personally improved compressor, compressing and condensing carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
.
Olszewski defended his doctoral dissertation at Heidelberg University, then returned to Kraków, where he was made profesor nadzwyczajny (associate professor).
In 1883, Zygmunt Wróblewski and Karol Olszewski were the first in the world to liquefy oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
, nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
and carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
from the atmosphere in a stable state (not, as had been the case up to then, in a dynamic state in the transitional form as vapor).
In 1884, in his Kraków laboratory, Olszewski was the first to liquefy hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
in a dynamic state, achieving a record low temperature of -225 °C (48 K). In 1895 he liquefied argon
Argon
Argon is a chemical element represented by the symbol Ar. Argon has atomic number 18 and is the third element in group 18 of the periodic table . Argon is the third most common gas in the Earth's atmosphere, at 0.93%, making it more common than carbon dioxide...
. He failed only to liquefy then-newly-discovered helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
.
In 1896, on hearing of Wilhelm Röntgen's work with x-rays, within a few days in early February Olszewski replicated it, thus initiating the university's department of radiology.
See also
- Timeline of low-temperature technologyTimeline of low-temperature technologyThe following is a timeline of low-temperature technology and cryogenic technology .-16th century BCE – 17th century CE :...
- Timeline of hydrogen technologiesTimeline of hydrogen technologiesTimeline of hydrogen technologies — A timeline of the history of hydrogen technology.-1600s:* 1625 - First description of hydrogen by Johann Baptista van Helmont...
- List of Poles