Balthasar van der Pol | |
|---|---|
 Van der Pol in 1939 | |
| Born | (1889-01-27)27 January 1889 Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Died | 6 October 1959(1959-10-06) (aged 70) Wassenaar,South Holland, Netherlands |
| Alma mater | Utrecht University (PhD) |
| Known for | Van der Pol oscillator |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions |
|
| Thesis | De invloed van een geioniseerd gas op het voortschrijden van electromagnetische golven en toepassingen daarvan op het gebied der draadlooze telegraphie en bij metingen van glimlichtontladingen (1920) |
| Doctoral advisor | Willem Henri Julius |
Balthasar van der Pol (1889–1959) was a Dutchphysicist known for thevan der Pol oscillator.
Balthasar van der Pol was born on 27 January 1889 inUtrecht, Netherlands, the son of Balthazar van der Pol and Gerhardina Clasina Steffens. From 1911 to 1916, he studied physics atUtrecht University. After graduation, he travelled to England, where he worked underAmbrose Fleming atUniversity College London andJ. J. Thomson at theUniversity of Cambridge.[1] While in England, he studied theheuristics ofwireless reception onboard ships.[2]
On 2 June 1917 inLondon, van der Pol married Pietronetta Posthuma, with whom he had a son and two daughters.
In 1919, upon his return to the Netherlands, van der Pol became an assistant toHendrik Lorentz atTeylers Museum inHarlem and returned to Utrecht University. The following year, he received hisPh.D. underWillem Henri Julius at Utrecht.[1]
In 1922, van der Pol joinedPhilips Research Laboratories inEindhoven, where he worked until his retirement in 1949. In addition, he was appointed Professor of Theoretical Electricity at Technische Hogeschool Delft (nowDelft University of Technology) in 1938.[1]
Van der Pol died on 6 October 1959 inWassenaar at the age of 70.
As observed byHendrik Casimir, "Radio might have remained a field of haphazard empiricism along with wild commercial ventures, but for the influence of men like Van der Pol who stressed the need for a more scientific approach."[3]
Thedifferential equations of coupled electrical systems drew his interest, and he developed the idea of "relaxation oscillations".[4][5] With J. van der Mark he applied the idea to theheartbeat,[6] which provided one of the earliestquantitative models of the action potential. These studies led him to thevan der Pol equation andOliver Heaviside’soperational calculus for dealing with differential equations. He submitted articles toPhilosophical Magazine on the operational calculus and, in coordination with H. Bremmer, wroteModern Operational Calculus based on the Two-sided Laplace Integral, published byCambridge University Press.
In 1935, van der Pol was awarded theMedal of Honor by theInstitute of Radio Engineers "for his fundamental studies and contributions in the field ofcircuit theory andelectromagnetic wave propagation phenomena".
Theasteroid10443 van der Pol is named after him.
In 1949, van der Pol became a Member of theRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[7]
