Gerardus J. Sizoo Gerardus J. Sizoo Gerardus Johannes Sizoo (8 November 1900 – 4 January 1994) was the first professor of physics at the Vrije Universiteit. He is notable for the establishment and development of the applied physics laboratory in 1930 and the establishment of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the Vrije Universiteit. His doctoral research explored the phenomenon of superconductivity at the University of Leiden, following the lead of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and Wander Johannes de Haas. He completed his PhD in 1926, with a thesis entitled: "Onderzoekingen over den suprageleidenden toestand van metalen," under Wander Johannes de Haas. In
History of superconductivity a Linde machine for his research. On March 21, 1900, Nikola Tesla was granted a US patent for the means for increasing the intensity of electrical oscillations by lowering the temperature, which was caused by lowered resistance. Within this patent it describes the increased intensity and duration of electric oscillations of a low temperature resonating circuit. It is believed that Tesla had intended that Linde's machine would be used to attain the cooling agents. A milestone was achieved on July 10, 1908 when Heike Kamerlingh Onnes at Leiden University in the Netherlands produced, for the first time, liquified helium, which