Frederik Kaiser

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Frederik Kaiser
The "Old Observatory" in Leiden

Frederik Kaiser (also: Friedrich Kaiser, Frederick Kaiser, Fritz Kaiser ; born June 10, 1808 in Amsterdam , † July 28, 1872 in Leiden ) was a Dutch astronomer.

Life

Kaiser comes from a German family who found a new home in the Netherlands at the end of the 18th century. His father, Johann Wilhelm Kaiser (died July 7, 1769 in Kaltenholzhausen † July 1818 in Dietz near Nassau) worked as a German teacher in The Hague and later in Amsterdam. At the age of eight he lost his father and since his mother, Anna Sibilla Liernur (born June 11, 1778 in Schevingen, † November 1, 1870 in The Hague), who was related to Johann Sebastian Bach , her large number of children did not could provide more alone, he was given to his uncle and godfather Jan Frederik Keijser (1766 in Dietz near Nassau; † March 27, 1823 in Amsterdam), who held a tax office in Amsterdam. This uncle had developed a great fondness for mathematical and astronomical subjects, which he passed on to Frederik and was able to establish a talent in Kaiser for these subject areas at an early stage. However, Frederik lost his uncle at the age of fifteen.

Since he had already achieved a high standard of education in the mathematical and astronomical sciences, he was able to secure his own livelihood as a private tutor from then on and pursued his further education as an autodidact. He was also able to support his mother financially. Through the intercession of the Utrecht professor Gerard Moll , at the age of eighteen in 1826, he was able to get a job as an observer at the Leiden observatory . When he took up his post, however, the conditions in Leiden were not very satisfactory. In addition to his work, he enrolled on February 15, 1831 as a student of philosophical sciences at the Leiden University. He gained his first scientific recognition in 1835 while observing Comet Halley . After he had been awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophical sciences by the university senate in November 1835, he became lecturer in practical astronomy at the University of Leiden and director of the Leiden observatory on August 10, 1837 .

On August 26, 1840, he was appointed associate professor of astronomy, which task he took on on October 17, 1840 with the speech De novissimis astronomiae incrementis (freely translated: About the latest developments in astronomy ). On January 7, 1845 he became a full professor of astronomy and in this capacity took over the rectorate of the Alma Mater in 1857/58 . Kaiser is associated with the advancement of Dutch astronomy as he made excellent contributions to position determination in his day. In addition, in 1861 he built a modern observatory (known today as the "Old Observatory", Oude Sterrewacht ) and thus helped to make astronomy more popular in the country. He made a series of drawings of the planet Mars during his opposition in 1862 and made fairly precise determinations of its period of rotation .

He also received several honorable recognitions during his lifetime. From April 25, 1844 to October 26, 1851 he became a member of the Royal Netherlands Institute and on October 26, 1851 member of the successor organization of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences . He was also a member of the scientific society 'Een onvermoeide Arbeid komt alles te boven' (A tireless work overcomes everything), a member of the Dutch Society of Sciences in Haarlem, a member of the Society of Dutch Literature in Leiden, a member of the Provincial Utrecht Society of the Arts and Sciences, member of the Batavian Society for Experimental Philosophy in Rotterdam, member of the Zeeland Society of Sciences in Middelburg, member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin and Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion. The lunar crater Kaiser , the Mars crater Kaiser and the asteroid (1694) Kaiser are named after him . In the Mars nomenclature introduced by Richard Proctor and no longer in use , the Syrtis Major was called the "Kaiser See". The nomenclature was replaced by that of Giovanni Schiaparelli .

family

On March 3, 1831, Kaiser married in Leiden Aletta Maria Rebecca Barkey (born April 15, 1803 in Leiden, † May 25, 1872 ibid.), The orphaned daughter of Jan Pieter Barkey (born November 5, 1773 in Semarang – February 7 1824 in Leiden) and his wife Anna Wilhelmina van Bergen (born September 23, 1769 in Breda, † July 13, 1814 in Leiden). The marriage has a daughter and four sons. From the children we know:

  • Aletta Rebecca Maria Kaiser (born April 17, 1832 in Leiden, † February 24, 1915 there)
  • Frederik Anthony Kaiser (born April 8, 1834 in Leiden; † January 18, 1836 there)
  • Willem Frederik Kaiser (born April 19, 1836 in Leiden, † July 18, 1916 in Oegstgeest)
  • Pieter Jan Kaiser (born March 3, 1838 in Leiden, † June 22, 1916 in Nijmegen)
  • Emilius Johannes Aletus Kaiser (born March 3, 1838 in Leiden, † September 29, 1903 in Delft) married. April 30, 1869 in Maassluis with Aagje (Aagt) Knuttel (* May 28, 1843 in Ammerstol; † January 21, 1913 in The Hague) daughter of pastor Daniël Knuttel (* October 23, 1813 in Amsterdam, † April 28, 1872 in The Hague) and his wife Elisabeth Cornelia Fabius (born July 31, 1816 in Delft; † February 26, 1876 in The Hague)

Works (selection)

  • Negotiating over de komeet van Halley, hare vroegere verschijningen en de toekomstige in het Jaar 1835. Amsterdam and The Hague, 1835 ( online )
  • De komeet van Encke en hare naderende different. Leiden 1838 ( online )
  • Het Observatorium te Leiden. Leiden 1838 ( digitized version )
  • The optical kracht des great kijkers uit het Optisch Instituut te Muenchen, op het Observatorium te Leiden. 1839
  • First metingen met the micrometer, volbragt op het observatorium van's rijks hoogeschool te Leiden. Leiden 1840 ( online , digitized )
  • De sterrenhemel. Vol. 1 Amsterdam 1844 ( online ), Vol. 2 Amsterdam 1845 ( online )
  • De storingen in de moving the ligchamen van ons zonnestelsel. Amsterdam 1847 ( Online ) German: The solar system and the laws of its motion. Translated in 1850 by Christian Gottlob Tröbst
  • Beschouwingen van den sterrenhemel. Leeuwarden 1849 ( Online ) German: The starry sky described. Berlin 1850 ( online )
  • The divorce of the ontdekkingen van planeten, as a tafereel van het Wezen en the toestand of the sterrekunde. Amsterdam 1851 ( online )
  • De sterrekundige plaatsbepaling in the Indian archipelago, en de Maatregelen, op Gezag van ZE the Minister of Colonies, dead hare voorbereiding genomen. Amsterdam 1851 ( online )
  • De stelling van Otto Struve, omtrent het breeder van den Ring van Saturnus, killed aan de handwriting van Huggens de naauwkeurigheid der latere waarnemingen. 1855
  • Description of the patent circles en sextanten, van Pistor en Martins, te Berlijn. 1858
  • Onderzoekingen omtrent the gang van het sterrekundig slingeruurwerk der Nederlandsche marine. 1860
  • Redevoering over het doel en de eischen eener sterrewacht. Amsterdam 1861 ( online )
  • Voorloopig failed the waarnemingen omtrent de planeet Mars, bij haren the object in het jaar 1862, volbragt aan de sterrewacht te Leiden. 1863 German: Remarks on the observations of the planet Mars made at the observatory in Leiden around the time of the opposition in 1862. 1864
  • Planetary observations, made at the meridian circles of the observatory in Leiden in the years 1861–62. 1863
  • Planetary and comet observations made with the thread micrometer of the 6-inch refractor of the Leiden observatory during the years 1859, 1860, 1861 and 1862. Leiden 1863
  • News about the new observatory in Leiden. 1863
  • Collection of smaller astronomical treatises. 1863
  • Star and planet coverings from the moon and appearances at Jupiter's satellites, observed at the Leiden observatory in the years 1857–1863. Leiden 1863
  • Verslag van den Staat der Sterrewacht te Leiden en van de aldaar volbragt Werkzaamheden, in het Tijdvak van den eersten Julij 1863 tot de laatste Dagen van de Maand Junij 1864. Amsterdam 1864 ( online )
  • Onderzoekingen omtrent the gang van het hoofduurwerk der sterrewacht te Leiden. 1865
  • Some opmerkingen omtrent de periodieke fouten van mikrometer-schroeven, naar aanleiding van de jongste onderzoekingen aan de sterrewacht te Leiden. 1866 German: About a new apparatus for the absolute determination of personal errors in astronomical observations. 1867
  • History and description of the observatory in Leiden. Haarlem, 1868 ( online )

literature

  • W. Valentiner: Friedrich Kaiser. In: A. Auwers, A. Winnecke: Quarterly publication of the Astronomical Society. Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig, 1872, 7th year, p. 266
  • W. Valentiner: F. Kaiser. In: Westermann's year book of illustrated German monthly books. A family book for the entire intellectual life of the present. Georg Westermann, Braunschweig, 1874, volume 36, 3rd episode, 4th volume, April 1874 – September 1874 p. 198
  • Jean Abraham Chrétien Oudemans: Levens report F. Kaiser. In: Jaarboek Kon. Acad. 1875, Amsterdam, pp. 39-104 ( Online PDF )
  • HG van de Sande Bakhuyzen: KAISER (Friedrich, called Frederik) . In: Petrus Johannes Blok , Philipp Christiaan Molhuysen (Ed.): Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek . Part 1. N. Israel, Amsterdam 1974, Sp. 1239–1241 (Dutch, knaw.nl / dbnl.org - first edition: AW Sijthoff, Leiden 1911, reprinted unchanged).
  • HG van de Sande-Bakhuyzen: Frederik Kaiser to de bouw of the nieuwe Sterrenwacht te Leiden (1860). In: Jaarboekje voor geschiedenis en oudheidkunde van Leiden en omstreken. 1910 ( online )
  • Abraham Jacob van der Aa : Biographical Woordenboek der Nederlanden. Verlag JJ van Brederode, Haarlem 1878, vol. Additions (nl: bijvoegsel), p. 316 ( online , Dutch)
  • ND Haasbroek: Prof. F. Kaiser en SH Lange in hun Relatie tot de astronomische Plaatsbepalingen van omstreeks 1650 in het voormalige Ned. In the. Delft 1977, ( Online PDF )
  • Petra van den Heijden: Kaiser, Frederik (Frederick, Fiederich). In: Thomas Hockey: Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer Science + Business Media, New York, 2007, ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0 , pp. 607-608, ( online sample )
  • Huib Zuidervaart, Frans van Lunteren, Hans Hooijmaijers, David Baneke, Dirk van Delft: Frederik Kaiser (1808-1872), Schepper van de 'Nieuwe' Leidse Sterrewacht. Uitgave ter liesheid van de restauratie van de in 1860 opgeleverde Leidse Sterrewacht. The Hague, 2011 ( Online PDF )

Web links

Commons : Frederik Kaiser  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Kaiser, Frederik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kaiser, Friedrich; Kaiser, Frederick; Kaiser, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH June 10, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 1872
Place of death Suffer