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Dewar put a light to a small quantity. A brilliant burst of flame was the result. Of its exceedingly small density he gave an idea by showing that a light material like cork would not float on its surface but sank like lead. Among the other experiments, of which there were several, he showed that oxygen in a sealed tube when lowered into liquid hydrogen quickly became solid and when lifted out it could be seen to become first a liquid and then a gas. Of the temperature of liquid hydrogen Professor Dewar said it was 21 degrees on the Absolute Scale. It had taken him nearly a year to come to a definite conclusion on that point because he could not get any two thermometers to agree. The last part of the lecture was devoted to a dissertation on the extraordinary low vacua obtainable by the use of liquid hydrogen, so perfect that if one end of a closed tube were immersed in it for a short time and then sealed off in the middle, a vacuum was formed in the upper part so perfect that an electrical charge could not be made to pass. Lord Kelvin proposed the vote of thanks, “for a brilliant, beautiful and splendidly interesting lecture”. He asked his audience to imagine what would Count Rumford, Davy or Faraday have thought if they could have seen it and heard it. They could not have hoped for their scientific dreams and prophecies to be so splendidly verified within the century”. The vote of thanks, we are told, was carried with acclamation. In responding to it Professor Dewar referred in appreciative terms to the part taken in the liquefaction of hydrogen by his assistant Mr Lennox. Speaking on behalf of the overseas visitors Professor Barker said, “how royally they had been entertained listening to lectures such as the world never before had heard and witnessing experiments such as it had never seen”. To mark the centenary year Sir James, at his own expense, had the lecture hall beautifully redecorated, a gesture which was much appreciated by the members.
A member of The British Association for the Advancement of Science for more than a quarter of a century and a regular contributor to the discussions at its annual meetings, Professor Dewar was chosen to preside over their conference in 1902. It was an expected and a popular choice. Indeed, many felt that by conferring the highest honour in the academic world of science on one of their most distinguished practitioners The British Association for the Advancement of Science was only doing what had been waiting to be done. The meetings were held in Belfast. The conditions for the conference, centred in the Queen’s College and in the Presbyterian College in its immediate vicinity, were ideal and the warm-hearted hospitality of the citizens plus the lavish provision for entertainment and recreation planned by the civic authorities ensured that the visitors would have available all the facilities for the work and leisure which they could desire. The opening meeting was held in the spacious Grosvenor Hall where, according to custom, the President delivered the opening address to a plenary assembly of the members. This was a major event in the career of any scientist as well as a valued honour and like his eminent predecessors Professor Dewar would put much thought and care into its preparation. Introducing the new President his predecessor, Sir Arthur Rucker, said that “Professor Dewar had performed tasks which few were competent to perform. He had carried the heat of scientific battle into the intensest cold, he had attempted to show them what matter was when those restless throbbings we call heat were reduced and as far as possible stilled and the gleams of phosphorescent light he had discovered in these regions were but the symbol of the light he had himself thrown on problems the most difficult and the most profound”. Opening his Address with a felicitous reference to the coronation of King Edward VII which had taken place a few weeks previously and which had been postponed from its original date owing to the King’s illness which had necessitated a major operation (note 25), Professor Dewar said that His Majesty owed his recovery both to the skill of his surgeons and to the equipment placed at their disposal by the investigations of science. No one would be more conscious of this than His Majesty himself who had shown a keen interest in The British Association for the Advancement of Science for the past forty-three years and who had only recently been very forthright in a plea for state support for scientific investigation and research, a plea which the present speaker fully endorsed. Thanking the civic authorities for the courtesy and warmth of their welcome to the members attending the conference Professor Dewar made reference to “the broad strides in industrial development, to the great improvement in its harbour and to the handsome civic and educational buildings which had taken place since The British Association had last met in Belfast twenty-eight years ago. Congratulating Andrew Carnegie and other munificent benefactors on the support... NEXT PAGE
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