William Francis Giauque

2026-01-21 09:31:05

Name: William Francis Giauque

Date: May 12, 1895

William Francis Giauque (Niagara Falls, Canada, May 12, 1895 – March 28, 1982, Berkeley, USA) is an American physical chemist, laureate of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his contribution to chemical thermodynamics, especially in that area of it that studies the behavior of substances at extremely low temperatures" (1949). The main works are devoted to verification of the 3rd law of thermodynamics, measurement of entropy and other thermodynamic properties of substances at ultra-low temperatures, in particular condensed gases. Together with H. Johnstone, he proved the existence of oxygen isotopes 17O and 18O. Together with D. McDougall, he developed a method of adiabatic demagnetization to obtain temperatures below 1 K and a method of measuring ultralow temperatures. Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (1936) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Awarded the Elliot Cresson Medal (1937). Awarded the Willard Gibbs Award (1951).