Dutch physicist and mathematician.
Wander de Haas was the son of Albertus de Haas (27 July 1847, Neerijnen – 15 December 1918, buried in Arnhem), schoolmaster and later principal of the “kweekschool” (Teacher’s College) of Middelburg and Maria Efting (6 May 1843, Arnhem- 11 April 1915, buried in Arnhem).
After attending the HBS high school in Middelburg, de Haas started paralegal studies in 1895. After completion of two of three parts of the examinations and having worked in a lawyer’s office for some time, he decided to change career and become a physicist instead. After passing the qualifications exams for admission to University, he started to study physics at the University of Leiden in 1900 under Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and Johannes Petrus Kuenen. He earned his doctorate in 1912, under Kamerlingh Onnes, with a thesis entitled: Metingen over de compressibiliteit van waterstof, in het bijzonder van waterstofdamp bij en beneden het kookpunt. (Measurements on the Compressibility of Hydrogen).
On 22 December 1910 he married Geertruida Luberta Lorentz (20 November 1885, Leiden ), the eldest daughter of the physicist Hendrik Lorentz. They married
They got three daughters and one sons. They adopted a nephew, Johan Hendrik Mulock Houwer, born 15 May 1916 in Dordrecht Their birth dates were found in municipal records of Delft. He was raised Dutch Reformed but later became an atheist.
He died 26 April 1960 22h21 in De Bilt at age 82.
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