Ole Jacob Broch

Ole Jacob Broch

Ole Jacob "Ola-Jacob" Broch (born January 14, 1818 in Fredrikstad , † February 5, 1889 in Sèvres near Paris) was a Norwegian scientist and politician. He was a professor of mathematics, a school reformer, a textbook writer and a councilor of state.

Youth and education

His parents were the war commissioner Johan Jørgen Broch (1791–1860) and his wife Jensine Laurentze Bentzen (1790–1877). On October 27, 1843 he married Friederike Ernestine Wilhelmine Schmidt (* February 5, 1823; † October 13, 1901), daughter of the table decker Friedrich Wilhelm Schmidt in Berlin and his wife Louise Wilhelmine Guthertz.

Broch received his first instruction in higher mathematics at the age of eleven from his uncle, who later became Major General Theodor Broch (1796–1863). He went to school in the cathedral school of Kristiansand and later in the institute of the senior teacher Møller in Christiania . In 1835 he passed the examen artium and taught at Møller's institute alongside his studies. He was a good student and raised hopes that he would succeed the mathematician Abel .

The scientist and school politician

From 1840 to 1842 he had a scholarship abroad. He also came to Paris, where he was well received. He worked there in the Abelian tradition on elliptic functions and Abelian integrals. He was particularly interested in Augustin Louis Cauchy's theory of light , and this theory inspired him to do his own work. He turned to optics and dealt with various mathematical-physical problems. He later traveled to Berlin and Königsberg, where he carried out optical experiments. Another field that he was encouraged to do abroad was statistics. His mathematical research brought him to physics and mechanics on the one hand, and statistics and economics on the other. In 1842 he received a scholarship for pure and applied mathematics and mathematical physics. But he gave up the job in 1843 in order to found his friend Hartvig Nissen's Latin and Realschule.

Here he campaigned for an increase in the level of secondary school education. This school became the model for later reforms in the public school system. They were part of a trend that had emerged before 1800 to expand scientific education at the expense of the humanities. He was particularly committed to the secondary school teacher training at the university and implemented a special secondary school teacher exam, which was an innovation. In 1847 he was the first to submit his doctoral thesis in Norwegian: Lovene for Lysets Forplantelse i isophane og eenaxig krystalliserede Legemer (laws of light propagation in isophane and uniaxial crystallized bodies), a topic that had already interested him in Paris.

Mathematics at the university was divided into two areas, pure and applied mathematics. Christopher Hansteen held the chair for applied mathematics and astronomy, Bernt Michael Holmboe for pure mathematics. In 1848 Broch was made an extraordinary lecturer in applied mathematics with the promise to get the one of the two chairs that would be the first to vacate. As a lecturer, he was supposed to relieve Hansteen of his heavy workload. When Holmboe died unexpectedly in 1850, he received his chair for pure mathematics. Nevertheless, he continued to read about engineering. In 1858 he became a professor. He taught until 1869 and from 1872 to 1879. During this time, he also wrote textbooks that were supposed to enable improved training in secondary schools. In 1854 his main textbook of mechanics came out in Berlin. Other textbooks dealt with arithmetic, algebra, descriptive geometry, definite integrals, analytic geometry of the plane, analytic stereometry and trigonometry. From 1843 to 1858 he also taught the military, first at the war school and later also at the military college. Here he also began to raise the level and taught modern mathematics, descriptive geometry and later also in natural science.

Social tasks

Broch was also involved in general social problems. In 1847 he founded Christiania almindelige, gjensidige Forsørgelsesanstalt (Christiania's general mutual pension institution), the first life insurance in the modern sense in Norway. In 1852 he joined the management of Kongeriget Norges Hypothekbank and played a central role in the establishment of Den norske Creditbank in 1857. In insurance, he used his knowledge to compile mortality tables, statistics and other tables. He was Norway's first actuary.

In 1868 he was chairman of the Ingeniørkommisjon , an advisory and coordinating body for all public works, and a member of the boards of several railway companies. He also worked out a plan for a nationwide telegraph network.

In Bergen, a Professor Dr Ole Jacob Broch Og Hustru Wilhelmine Fredikke Født Schmidt's Legat For Værdige Trængende Eldre Kvinner (Professor Dr Ole Jacob Brochs and his wife Frederikke nee Schmidt's Foundation for worthy elderly women in need) was founded, which is today Professor Dr Ole Jacob Broch Og Hustru Wilhelmine Fredikke Født Schmidt's Legat For Værdige Trængende (Professor Dr. Ole Jacob Brochs and his wife Frederikke born Schmidt's Foundation for Worthy Needy People ) and is still based in Bergen.

politics

In 1857 Broch was elected to the magistrate (bystyre) of Christiania and sat for two periods (1861–1869 and 1873–1876) in the governing body (formannskapet) of the city. 1862–1869 he was a member of the Storting for Christiania. He headed the railway committee in Storting and was a member of the military committee.

Broch left the university in 1869 to join the government. He became a minister in the naval and postal departments. That was the high point of his political career. For a time he was also in the Stockholm department of the Union government. In 1872 he resigned from the government. In the dispute over the ministers' access to the Storting negotiations, there was a conflict between the government, which was in favor, and the Storting, which rejected the relevant proposals. As a result, the Stang government adopted a policy of confrontation against the Storting and ensured that all legislative decisions were refused royal approval. Broch did not want to support this policy of obstruction. He foresaw that the Storting would win the power struggle and, through its resolutions, would put the government under pressure in such a way that one could finally speak of a “Storting government”. Broch was also a supporter of Scandinavianism and the first chairman of the "Scandinaviske Selskab" founded in 1864. Nevertheless, for pragmatic reasons, he rejected the introduction of the Swedish krona as the Norwegian currency and advocated the German mark as a currency date.

On his initiative, the measure law was passed on May 12, 1875, which replaced the measures of 1824 with pounds and inches, which had been introduced by Christopher Hansteen. Norway was the first country to ratify the Paris Meter Convention with a Storting resolution of May 26, 1875.

In 1879 he came to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sèvres, of which he became director in 1883. The task of standardizing the units of measurement was almost complete by his death.

When Christian Homann Schweigaard's “April Ministry” resigned in 1884 , he was called back to Christiania to form a government. He also wanted to involve ministers from the “Venstre” in his government, but this failed. With that, Broch said goodbye to politics and went back to Paris, where he died.

Honors

Broch has received numerous awards for his scientific and political achievements. He has been a member of the Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab since 1849 , the Videnskabs-Selskab in Christiania (now the Norwegian Academy of Sciences ) since its foundation in 1857 and a number of foreign scientific societies. Since 1875 he was a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences . In 1855 he became a knight of the Order of St. Olav , in 1866 its commander and in 1879 he received the Grand Cross. He was Commandeur de l'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur and Commander of the North Star Order . The "Ole Jacob Brochs gate" in Oslo was named after him.

Works (selection)

• Lovene for Lysets Forplantelse i isophane og eenaxig krystalliserede Legemer , dissertation 1847.
• Lærebog i trigonometries . 1851
• The rational Mekaniks Elementer . 1853
• Mechanics textbook . Berlin 1854
• Lærebog i plan geometries . 1855
• Lærebog i arithmetic and algebraic elements . 1860.
• Statistisk Årbog for Kongeriget Norge , 1867–1871.
• Kongeriget Norge og det norske Folk, dets sociale Forhold, Sundhedstilstand, Næringsveie, Redningsvæsen, Samfærdselsmidler og Ekonomi. Beretning afgiven til Congresses for Sundhedsforhold og Redningsvæsen i Bryssel 1876 . 1876.

Remarks

The article is essentially based on the Norsk biografisk leksikon . Other information is shown separately.

1. ^ Council of State was the name for a minister.
2. ↑ The table decker had the task of artfully setting the banqueting tables with crockery, cutlery and the silverware. There was this profession at court, but also as a freelancer for weddings and other festive occasions.
3. ↑ The Examen artium was the entrance examination for the university, so it corresponded to the Abitur, but was accepted by the university.
4. ↑ A scholarship holder would have a temporary teaching position at the university to do a doctoral thesis.
5. ↑ Isophane: The same in appearance, regardless of which proportions determine the equality
6. ↑ This later became "Livsforsikringsselskapet Gjensidige" (mutual life insurance company). In 1985 it merged with “Norsk Bilforsikring Gjensidige” to form “Gjensidige Forsikring”. Then banks were also incorporated, including “Sparebanken NOR”. This is how "Gjensidige NOR" was born. Today the insurance bears the name "Gjensidige Forsikring"
7. ^ "Department" is the Norwegian name for a ministry. The "Marine- og postdepartement" existed from 1861 to 1885 under the government of Frederik Stang .
8. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter B. Académie des sciences, accessed on September 27, 2019 (French). 
9. ↑ “Traité de commerce entre la France et les royaumes-unis de Suède et de Norvège” in: Ministère des affaires étrengères: Conférences pour la négociation des traités de commerce entre la France et les royaumes-unis de Suède et de Norvège , Paris 1881 , Pp. 157-163, 158.

Web links

• Author profile in the database zbMATH

literature

• Gunnar Christie Wasberg and Karen Mathilde Haugland: Article “Ole Jacob Broch” in: Norsk biografisk leksikon