Jump to content

Gerrit Moll: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→Life: expand
→Life: fmt
 
(25 intermediate revisions by 18 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[File:John Dalton shaking hands with Gerrit Moll, 1834, thanking h Wellcome V0006734.jpg|thumb|Gerrit Moll (left) shakes hands with [[John Dalton]]]]
[[File:John Dalton shaking hands with Gerrit Moll 1834 Wellcome V0006734.jpg|thumb|Gerrit Moll (left) shakes hands with [[John Dalton]]]]
'''Gerard Moll''', called '''Gerrit Moll''' (1785–1838) was a Dutch scientist and mathematician. A polymath in his interests, he published in four languages.<ref name="Pyenson1989">{{cite book|author=Lewis Pyenson|title=Empire of Reason: Exact Sciences in Indonesia, 1840-1940|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hSs1m1GGko4C&pg=PA21|year=1989|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-08984-5|page=21}}</ref>
'''Gerard "Gerrit" Moll''' LLD (1785–1838) was a Dutch scientist and mathematician. A polymath in his interests, he published in four languages.<ref name="Pyenson1989">{{cite book|author=Lewis Pyenson|title=Empire of Reason: Exact Sciences in Indonesia, 1840-1940|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSs1m1GGko4C&pg=PA21|year=1989|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-08984-6|page=21}}</ref>


==Life==
==Life==
From a family background in [[Amsterdam]] of commerce, Moll was drawn towards science.<ref name="BerkelHelden1999">{{cite book|author1=Klaas Van Berkel|author2=Albert Van Helden|author3=L. C. Palm|title=The History of Science in the Netherlands: Survey, Themes and Reference|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1jwjTsRu6AMC&pg=PA531|year=1999|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-10006-7|page=531}}</ref> His teacher at the [[Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam]] was [[Jean Henri van Swinden]]. He took up astronomy with Jan Frederik Keijser in 1801.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Huibert J. Zuidervaart|author2=Rob H. van Gent|title=Between Rhetoric and Reality: Instrumental Practices at the Astronomical Observatory of the Amsterdam Society 'Felix Meritis', 1786-1889|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=s3OYAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA84|year=2013|publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren|isbn=978-90-8704-363-6|page=84}}</ref> In 1809 he was awarded a Candidaat degree by[[Leiden University]];<ref name="Kruit2014">{{cite book|author=Pieter C. van der Kruit|title=Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn: Born Investigator of the Heavens|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=aqJ3BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|date=18 November 2014|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-10876-6|page=29}}</ref><ref name="Springer">{{cite web|url=http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-0-387-30400-7_967|title=Moll, Gerard - Springer|work=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers 2007|page=794|accessdate=14 April 2015}}</ref> and in 1810 he went to Paris, where he studied under [[Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre|Delambre]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Huibert J. Zuidervaart|author2=Rob H. van Gent|title=Between Rhetoric and Reality: Instrumental Practices at the Astronomical Observatory of the Amsterdam Society 'Felix Meritis', 1786-1889|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=s3OYAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|year=2013|publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren|isbn=978-90-8704-363-6|page=150}}</ref><ref name="Kruit2014"/>
From a family background in [[Amsterdam]] of commerce, Moll was drawn towards science.<ref name="BerkelHelden1999">{{cite book|author1=Klaas Van Berkel|author2=Albert Van Helden|author3=L. C. Palm|title=The History of Science in the Netherlands: Survey, Themes and Reference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1jwjTsRu6AMC&pg=PA531|year=1999|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-10006-0|page=531}}</ref> His teacher at the [[Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam]] was [[Jean Henri van Swinden]]. He took up astronomy with Jan Frederik Keijser in 1801.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Huibert J. Zuidervaart|author2=Rob H. van Gent|title=Between Rhetoric and Reality: Instrumental Practices at the Astronomical Observatory of the Amsterdam Society 'Felix Meritis', 1786-1889|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s3OYAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA84|year=2013|publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren|isbn=978-90-8704-363-6|page=84}}</ref> In 1809 he was awarded a Candidaat degree by [[Leiden University]];<ref name="Kruit2014">{{cite book|author=Pieter C. van der Kruit|title=Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn: Born Investigator of the Heavens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aqJ3BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|date=18 November 2014|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-10876-6|page=29}}</ref><ref name="Springer">{{cite book|chapter=Moll, Gerard|title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |year=2007|page=794|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_967|last1 = Frommert|first1 = Hartmut|publisher=Springer|location=New York|isbn=978-0-387-31022-0}}</ref> and in 1810 he went to Paris, where he studied under [[Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre|Delambre]].<ref name="Kruit2014"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=Huibert J. Zuidervaart|author2=Rob H. van Gent|title=Between Rhetoric and Reality: Instrumental Practices at the Astronomical Observatory of the Amsterdam Society 'Felix Meritis', 1786-1889|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s3OYAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|year=2013|publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren|isbn=978-90-8704-363-6|page=150}}</ref> Moll is noted for his later animus against "Napoleonic science", the tradition of the revolutionary period in France.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fox |first=Robert |date=1973 |title=Scientific Enterprise and the Patronage of Research in France 1800-70 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41820168 |journal=Minerva |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=442–473 |issn=0026-4695}}</ref>


In 1812 Moll was appointed director at [[Utrecht Observatory]], a position he then held for 26 years; and in 1815 professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Utrecht, receiving an honorary Ph.D. (under [[Johannes Theodorus Rossijn]]).<ref name="Springer"/><ref name="Kruit2014"/> He died of [[typhoid]] on 17 January 1838.<ref name="BerkelHelden1999"/>
In 1812 Moll was appointed director at [[Utrecht Observatory]], a position he then held for 26 years; and in 1815 professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Utrecht, receiving an honorary Ph.D. (under [[Johannes Theodorus Rossijn]]).<ref name="Kruit2014"/><ref name="Springer"/> He became member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences|Royal Institute of the Netherlands]] in 1815.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00001928 |title=Gerard (Gerrit) Moll (1785 - 1838) |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |date= |accessdate=17 July 2015}}</ref>

During the "declinist" controversy in British science around 1830, Moll spoke in praise of the British tradition, against the trend of increasing professionalisation.<ref name="Yeo2003">{{cite book|author=Richard Yeo|title=Defining Science: William Whewell, Natural Knowledge and Public Debate in Early Victorian Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UbFrozzH3PUC&pg=PA79|date=18 September 2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-54116-9|page=79}}</ref> A friend of [[Humphry Davy]] and [[Michael Faraday]], he wrote a pamphlet ''On The Alleged Decline of Science in England'' (1831), which Faraday edited, in reply to [[Charles Babbage]]'s ''On The Alleged Decline of Science in England'' (1830).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Agassi |first=Joseph |last2=Faraday |first2=Young |date=1961 |title=An Unpublished Paper of the Young Faraday |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/228343 |journal=Isis |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=87–90 |issn=0021-1753}}</ref> In relation to claims that French scientists had tried to diminish the impact of Davy's work, Moll relayed unfounded allegations to Faraday.<ref>{{cite book|author1=David Knight|author2=David M. Knight|title=Sources for the History of Science, 1660-1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aqM5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA85|year=1975|publisher=CUP Archive|page=85|id=GGKEY:07DR2AJ2N9B}}</ref>

Moll died of [[typhoid]] on 17 January 1838.<ref name="BerkelHelden1999"/>

==Works==
Moll developed the electromagnet of [[William Sturgeon]], publishing with priority over [[Joseph Henry]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Maury Klein|title=The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Invented Modern America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0o5Ld53wAEC&pg=PT72|date=1 September 2010|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-59691-834-4|page=72}}</ref>


==Notes==
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Moll, Gerard}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moll, Gerard}}
[[Category:1785 births]]
[[Category:1785 births]]
[[Category:1838 deaths]]
[[Category:1838 deaths]]
[[Category:Dutch scientists]]
[[Category:19th-century Dutch philosophers]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
⚫
[[Category:Dutch philosophers]]
[[Category:People from Amsterdam]]
[[Category:Scientists from Amsterdam]]
⚫
[[Category:19th-century Dutch astronomers]]

Latest revision as of 09:00, 27 November 2024

Gerrit Moll (left) shakes hands with John Dalton

Gerard "Gerrit" Moll LLD (1785–1838) was a Dutch scientist and mathematician. A polymath in his interests, he published in four languages.[1]

Life

[edit]

From a family background in Amsterdam of commerce, Moll was drawn towards science.[2] His teacher at the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam was Jean Henri van Swinden. He took up astronomy with Jan Frederik Keijser in 1801.[3] In 1809 he was awarded a Candidaat degree by Leiden University;[4][5] and in 1810 he went to Paris, where he studied under Delambre.[4][6] Moll is noted for his later animus against "Napoleonic science", the tradition of the revolutionary period in France.[7]

In 1812 Moll was appointed director at Utrecht Observatory, a position he then held for 26 years; and in 1815 professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Utrecht, receiving an honorary Ph.D. (under Johannes Theodorus Rossijn).[4][5] He became member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands in 1815.[8]

During the "declinist" controversy in British science around 1830, Moll spoke in praise of the British tradition, against the trend of increasing professionalisation.[9] A friend of Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday, he wrote a pamphlet On The Alleged Decline of Science in England (1831), which Faraday edited, in reply to Charles Babbage's On The Alleged Decline of Science in England (1830).[10] In relation to claims that French scientists had tried to diminish the impact of Davy's work, Moll relayed unfounded allegations to Faraday.[11]

Moll died of typhoid on 17 January 1838.[2]

Works

[edit]

Moll developed the electromagnet of William Sturgeon, publishing with priority over Joseph Henry.[12]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Lewis Pyenson (1989). Empire of Reason: Exact Sciences in Indonesia, 1840-1940. BRILL. p. 21. ISBN 978-90-04-08984-6.
  2. ^ a b Klaas Van Berkel; Albert Van Helden; L. C. Palm (1999). The History of Science in the Netherlands: Survey, Themes and Reference. BRILL. p. 531. ISBN 978-90-04-10006-0.
  3. ^ Huibert J. Zuidervaart; Rob H. van Gent (2013). Between Rhetoric and Reality: Instrumental Practices at the Astronomical Observatory of the Amsterdam Society 'Felix Meritis', 1786-1889. Uitgeverij Verloren. p. 84. ISBN 978-90-8704-363-6.
  4. ^ a b c Pieter C. van der Kruit (18 November 2014). Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn: Born Investigator of the Heavens. Springer. p. 29. ISBN 978-3-319-10876-6.
  5. ^ a b Frommert, Hartmut (2007). "Moll, Gerard". The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. p. 794. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_967. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0.
  6. ^ Huibert J. Zuidervaart; Rob H. van Gent (2013). Between Rhetoric and Reality: Instrumental Practices at the Astronomical Observatory of the Amsterdam Society 'Felix Meritis', 1786-1889. Uitgeverij Verloren. p. 150. ISBN 978-90-8704-363-6.
  7. ^ Fox, Robert (1973). "Scientific Enterprise and the Patronage of Research in France 1800-70". Minerva. 11 (4): 442–473. ISSN 0026-4695.
  8. ^ "Gerard (Gerrit) Moll (1785 - 1838)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  9. ^ Richard Yeo (18 September 2003). Defining Science: William Whewell, Natural Knowledge and Public Debate in Early Victorian Britain. Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-521-54116-9.
  10. ^ Agassi, Joseph; Faraday, Young (1961). "An Unpublished Paper of the Young Faraday". Isis. 52 (1): 87–90. ISSN 0021-1753.
  11. ^ David Knight; David M. Knight (1975). Sources for the History of Science, 1660-1914. CUP Archive. p. 85. GGKEY:07DR2AJ2N9B.
  12. ^ Maury Klein (1 September 2010). The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Invented Modern America. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-59691-834-4.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_Moll&oldid=1259833212"