Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski
Wróblewski, Zygmunt Florenty
Born Oct. 28, 1845, in Grodno; died Apr. 19, 1888, in Krakow. Polish physicist. Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences in Krakow (1880).
Wróblewski studied at the University of Kiev. For participating in the Polish Insurrection of 1863 he was exiled to Tomsk, but in 1869 he returned to Warsaw. In 1882, Wróblewski became a professor at the University of Krakow. His principal works deal with the problems of diffusion of gases in liquid and solid bodies, as well as the liquefaction of gases. In 1883, together with K. Olszewski, he was the first to obtain liquid oxygen in measurable quantities. Using liquid oxygen as a coolant, Wróblewski converted nitrogen and carbon monoxide into liquids. He was the first to determine the critical temperatures of carbon monoxide (1883) and oxygen and nitrogen (1885-88). Wróblewski died tragically in the explosion of an experimental facility.