Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn

Born Investigator of the Heavens

Pieter C. van der Kruit (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

XXIV, 698 Seiten

2016 | Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2015
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-319-38405-4 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

Jacobus C. Kapteyn (1851-1922) was a Dutch astronomer who contributed heavily to major catalogs of star positions, such as the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung and the Harvard-Groningen Durchmusterung, and arranged extensive international collaboration through his Plan of Selected Areas. He contributed to the establishment of statistical astronomy and structure and dynamics of the Sidereal System. All aspects of Kapteyn's life are discussed, from his birth in Barneveld, the Netherlands, to his death in Amsterdam, and his entire resume of scientific achievements in between. Kapteyn had some conflicts with others in his field, especially after the world became divided on how to handle scientific contributions from Germany post-World War I. Both Kapteyn's struggles and achievements are written against the backdrop of both the historical context of the world at that time as well as the scientific one.

Pieter C. van der Kruit is the Jacobus C. Kapteyn Honorary Professor of Astronomy at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute in Groningen, the Netherlands. He obtained his PhD in astronomy from Leiden University in 1971 under Jan Hendrik Oort. He held a prestigious Carnegie postdoctoral Fellowship at the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories in Pasadena, California, before moving to the University of Groningen in 1975. He has held visiting positions at numerous institutions, including the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra, Australia; the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, UK; the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, USA; the European Southern Observatory in Santiago, Chile, the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias in Tenerife, Spain, and the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California. His research concerns structure and dynamics of disks in galaxies. He has published over 160 papers, more than half as lead or sole author, contributed substantially to over 20 more, and authored or edited six books. In Groningen he taught introductory astronomy and advanced level courses on structure and dynamics of galaxies for many years, the latter also at a Saas-Fee winter school in Switzerland and in university curricula in Porto, Portugal, in Santiago, Chile and in Beijing, China. He is a former director of the Kapteyn Institute and has been a member and often chairman of numerous national and international boards and committees, notably President of Council of the European Southern Observatory and chairman of the Board for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array ALMA.

Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Chapter 1: Growing up in Barneveld.- Chapter 2: Studies in Utrecht.- Chapter 3: Astronomer in Leiden.- Chapter 4: Professor in Groningen.- Chapter 5: From Kepler to Parallax.- Chapter 6: Cape Photographic Durchmusterung.- Chapter 7: An Astronomical Laboratory.- Chapter 8: Colors and Motions.- Chapter 9: Star Streams.- Chapter 10: Selected Areas.- Chapter 11: Extinction.- Chapter 12: Students.- Chapter 13: Mount Wilson.- Chapter 14: Tides, Statistics and the Art of Discovery.- Chapter 15: First Attempt.- Chapter 16: Finale.- Appendices.- Notes and References.- Index.

"It is extremely detailed, covering all aspects of Kapteyn's life, and is liberally illustrated, especially with portraits. ... This lengthy and detailed work will be an invaluable reference for historians of science." (Derek Jones, The Observatory, Issue 1248, October, 2015)

"...van der Kruit's biography is an authoritative and highly valuable contribution to the history of astronomy and a rich source of information concerning Kapteyn and Dutch and international astronomy ca. 1880-1920." -Helge Kragh, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 46, Issue 4, November 2015

Erscheint lt. Verlag	24.9.2016
Reihe/Serie	Astrophysics and Space Science Library
Zusatzinfo	XXIV, 698 p. 296 illus., 99 illus. in color.
Verlagsort	Cham
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Gewicht	1010 g
Themenwelt	Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Astronomie / Astrophysik
Schlagworte	Astronomical Laboratory • Astronomy, Observations and Techniques • Astronomy, space and time • Cape Photographis Durchmusterung • Galactic Structure • Harlow Shapley • History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics • History of Science • Jacobus Kapteyn • Jacobus Kapteyn Biography • Kapteyn Institute Groningen • Physics • Physics and Astronomy • Pieter van Rhijn • Plan of Selected Areas • Statistical astronomy • Willem de Sitter
ISBN-10	3-319-38405-8 / 3319384058
ISBN-13	978-3-319-38405-4 / 9783319384054
Zustand	Neuware