Born on September 20, 1852, in Kincardine, Fife, Scotland, James Dewar became famous for his work in cryogenics--the study of objects at extremely low temperatures. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh and obtained professorial posts at both Cambridge and the Royal Institution in London. Dewar's interests covered a variety of fields. He was involved with spectroscopy, organic chemistry, the effect of light upon the retina, electricity, and the measurement of high temperatures. Dewar is best known for his work with the liquification of gases at extremely low temperatures.

In 1877, Louis Cailletet and Raoul Pictet independently were able to create small amounts of oxygen and nitrogen in liquid form at temperatures less than 80° above absolute zero, a feat even Michael Faraday, who had liquified most of the known gases by 1845, had been unable to carry out. Dewar decided to pursue this line of research beginning in the late...