Nicholas Kurti facts for kids

Nicholas Kurti was a brilliant scientist born in Hungary in 1908. He became a British physicist and spent most of his life in Oxford, UK. He was known for his amazing work with extremely cold temperatures and even for his unique ideas about cooking!

Nicholas Kurti's Early Life and Studies

Nicholas Kurti, whose Hungarian name was Kürti Miklós, was born in Budapest. He went to high school there. However, due to difficult laws at the time, he had to leave his home country.

He moved to Paris, France, where he earned his master's degree from the Sorbonne. Later, he went to Berlin, Germany, to get his doctorate. There, he studied low-temperature physics with Professor Franz Simon.

Moving to Oxford

Kurti and Professor Simon continued their work together in Breslau from 1931 to 1933. But when political changes made it unsafe, both scientists left Germany. They moved to England and joined the Clarendon Laboratory at the University of Oxford.

Amazing Scientific Achievements

During World War II, Nicholas Kurti worked on a very important science project. After the war ended in 1945, he returned to Oxford.

In 1955, he received the Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize for his excellent work. A year later, in 1956, Kurti and Professor Simon achieved something incredible. They built an experiment that reached a temperature of just one microkelvin. This is unbelievably cold, almost absolute zero! This achievement gained worldwide attention.

Recognition and Teaching

Because of his groundbreaking work, Kurti was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1956. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. He later became the society's Vice-President from 1965 to 1967.

In 1947, Kurti became a Fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford. He became a Professor of Physics at Oxford in 1967 and held this position until he retired in 1975. He also taught as a visiting professor at other famous universities, including City College in New York City and the University of California, Berkeley.

A Physicist in the Kitchen

Nicholas Kurti had a very interesting hobby: cooking! He loved to use his scientific knowledge to solve problems in the kitchen. This special field is now called gastrophysics.

In 1969, he gave a famous talk at the Royal Institution called "The physicist in the kitchen." He surprised everyone by using a new invention, the microwave oven. He made a "reverse Baked Alaska" — a "Frozen Florida." This was a hot drink inside a shell of frozen meringue!

Over the years, he organized several international workshops in Erice, Italy. These workshops focused on "Molecular and Physical Gastronomy," bringing together scientists and chefs to explore the science of food.