 Percy Williams Bridgman

Percy Williams Bridgman developed apparatus that made very high pressures useful as a controlled experimental variable. A pressure-assisted seal tightens as the load increases, helping contain conditions that would defeat a simple fixed gasket. Measuring changes of volume, phases and other properties under pressure reveals how strongly compressed matter differs from its ordinary state. His account connects the mechanical design of the pressure vessel with the reliability and range of the resulting physical measurements.^[ref]

A physicist.^[ref]

Percy Williams Bridgman (1882-1961) was an influential American physicist known for his work in the field of high-pressure physics. He is best remembered for his research on the properties of materials at high pressures, particularly with regard to phase transitions and the behavior of solids.