The Discovery of Superconductivity

In their book La guerre du froid, Jean Matricon and Georges Way sand describe the first liquefaction of helium in 1908, including the moment of recognition after a bystander suggested that the cryostat be illuminated from below. They go on to state that no similar firsthand account exists for the discovery of superconductivity three years later, which also took place in Heike Kamerlingh Onnes's laboratory at Leiden University, In their words, “Although we have an account full of life and spirit of the liquefaction of helium, the birth of superconductivity has come down to us only as a cold scientific report of the measurement.”