In 1918 he had started studying chemistry and later physics at the University of Amsterdam, where in 1925 he obtained his PhD with the thesis "Physical properties of wolfram at high temperatures" under supervision of the Noble-laureate Pieter Zeeman.

[2] From 1923 he worked as scientific researcher at Philips in Eindhoven, but in 1929 he was appointed professor in theoretical and applied physics at the Delft University of Technology.

He was involved in the acoustic design of sound studios and presided over multiple physics-related organizations.

In 1945 he requested retirement from his professoriate in Delft and became technical director of the "light" section at Philips.

In addition he advised for many years NLL and NLR as member of the Scientific Committee, from 1968 till 1972 as chairman.