This article discusses the life and work of Johannes Diderik van der Waals and his scientific legacy 100 years after he received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1910. The celebration of the 100 years since he was awarded the highest prize is appropriate for analyzing the noticeable influence of his seminal work. This paper analyzes some of his main achievements and in particular the equation of state, the principle of corresponding states and the theory of mixtures, of especial interest in engineering applications. The pioneering ideas of van der Waals have influenced several areas of physics and thermodynamics but it is these three concepts that formed the motivation for his Nobel Prize. A hundred years after this outstanding event and more than 125 years since the presentation of his doctoral thesis, notwithstanding many other extraordinary advances in physics and thermodynamics, the concepts of van der Waals continue being an object of study and his name continues being invoked in several contemporary areas of science and engineering. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.