The concept of absolute zero was not introduced by a single scientist, but rather developed through the work of several individuals over time. Here's a breakdown:

1. Guillaume Amontons (1702): He was the first to make a connection between the temperature of a gas and its volume. He observed that the volume of air decreased linearly with decreasing temperature, suggesting a point where the volume would theoretically become zero.

2. Jacques Alexandre Charles (1787): He refined Amontons' work and established the relationship between the volume and temperature of a gas, now known as Charles's Law. His experiments implied a minimum temperature below which gases couldn't exist.

3. William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) (1848): Lord Kelvin developed the concept of absolute temperature scale, which is based on the idea of a "perfect gas" and its theoretical behavior. He defined absolute zero as the theoretical temperature at which the volume of a perfect gas would reach zero.

4. James Prescott Joule (1845-1850): Joule's work on the mechanical equivalent of heat further solidified the concept of absolute zero as the temperature where all molecular motion would theoretically cease.

Therefore, the concept of absolute zero was a product of collective scientific inquiry, with key contributions from Amontons, Charles, Kelvin, and Joule.