Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was born on September 21, 1853, in Groningen, the Netherlands, and died on February 21, 1926, in Leiden. His father owned a roof-tile factory. Heike Kamerlingh Onnes entered the University of Groningen to study physics. When the government threatened to permanently shut down the university for monetary reasons, he led a delegation to the seat of the government in the Hague as president of the student government. During his studies he won several prizes in physics; his Ph.D. thesis demonstrates superior mathematical abilities. Despite delicate health through much of his life, he showed an enormous capacity for work.

Kamerlingh Onnes does not fit the description of a loner; on the contrary, he created one of the first laboratories to be set up as if it were a factory. Per Dahl in his comparison between Kamerlingh Onnes and his British counterpart, James Dewar...