Nico van Kampen facts for kids

Nicolaas 'Nico' Godfried van Kampen (June 22, 1921 – October 6, 2013) was a Dutch theoretical physicist. He mainly studied how things behave when they are not in a balanced state, and how tiny particles act together.

Nico van Kampen was born in Leiden, Netherlands. He was the nephew of a famous scientist named Frits Zernike. Nico studied physics at Leiden University.

Early Life and Studies

Nico van Kampen earned his PhD in 1952. His main teacher was Hendrik Anthony Kramers. Nico's PhD work was about how light particles scatter. He found ways to solve tricky problems in this area. This helped scientists understand how to "fix" calculations in quantum mechanics.

Working on Non-Equilibrium Physics

In 1953, Van Kampen started working on non-equilibrium processes. This means studying systems that are changing, not staying the same. He looked at how things like heat and energy move around. He also studied how many tiny particles act together, especially in hot gases called plasma.

Joining Utrecht University

In 1955, Van Kampen moved to Utrecht University. He became a full professor there. He taught and researched for many years. After he retired, he became a professor emeritus, which means he kept his title.

Important Books and Ideas

Nico van Kampen wrote a very important book. It was called Stochastic processes in physics and chemistry. This book came out in 1981. Many scientists still use it today.

Views on Pseudoscience

In 2002, Van Kampen wrote another book called Waanwetenschap. This title means "Science" in Dutch. In this book, he talked about what he saw as pseudoscience. Pseudoscience is like fake science. He even thought some of it was happening inside the science world. His book caused some discussion among other scientists.

Mentoring Young Scientists

Van Kampen was a great teacher. He helped 15 students earn their PhDs. Some of his students included Barend Felderhof and John Tjon. He also had a famous nephew, Gerard 't Hooft. Gerard later won the Nobel Prize in physics. Van Kampen encouraged Gerard to study physics at Utrecht.

Recognitions and Later Life

In 1973, Nico van Kampen became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. This is a very important group for smart people in the Netherlands. He passed away in 2013 in Nieuwegein. He was 92 years old.

His Thoughts on Quantum Mechanics

Van Kampen had strong opinions about quantum mechanics. This is the science of how tiny particles behave. He didn't agree with some of the unusual ideas about it. He wrote an article called "The scandal of quantum mechanics." He also shared his own ideas in a paper called "Ten theorems about quantum mechanical measurements."

Other Publications

Nico van Kampen wrote many other scientific papers and books. Here are a few:

• With B. U. Felderhof: Theoretical methods in plasma physics, North Holland 1967, ISBN: 0720401208
• Views of a physicist. Selected papers of N. G. van Kampen, World Scientific 2000 (edited by Paul H. E. Meijer) ISBN: 981-02-4357-X
• Stochastic processes in physics and chemistry, North Holland 1981, 3rd edition, 2007, ISBN: 0-444-89349-0
• Elimination of fast variables, Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1985. Part of the Physics Reports series, volume 124, number 2.