James Dewar

Sir James Dewar (1842 to 1923) was a Scottish chemist and physicist, born at Kincardine-on-Forth, who became Jacksonian Professor of Natural Experimental Philosophy at Cambridge in 1875 and Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution in 1877. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, called the Dewar flask and later the Thermos flask, which grew out of his research into the liquefaction of gases and gave him a vessel in which liquid air could be stored for reasonable periods without serious loss. He did not seek profit from it. He also worked on atomic and molecular spectroscopy for more than 25 years and, with Sir Frederick Abel, is credited with the discovery of the smokeless powder cordite.