Abstract
The situation at the Observatory in Leiden was far from ideal. Little management, little observations, little publications. The ‘young’ Van de Sande Bakhuyzen would turn 70 in 1918, the regular age to retire. Some activity arose round the Observatory at the end of 1917. Mr. Rh. Feith Esq., member of the Board of Governors of the University, said in a meeting of the Board, that he had heard from reliable sources that part of the staff of the Observatory were less qualified [AUL, BG minutes]. The case was held over to the next meeting, but it was decided not to enter into proposals of the director in the meantime. In the next meeting the situations were discussed at the hand of a letter of Jan van der Bilt , astronomer in Utrecht, to the Board of Governors. De Sitter and Kapteyn also discussed the necessity to intervene in February 1918, but they decided to wait until De Sitter would be completely recovered. De Sitter had already missed the jubilee on the occasion of Kapteyn’s 40-years’ professorship on 20 February.
Here we have the most beautiful weather in the world, and splendid clear skies. This would be an excellent location for an observatory.
Willem de Sitter from Arosa
[ASL, 20-11-1919 to Hertzsprung]
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Notes
- 1.
See Chap. 12.
- 2.
Mr. C. Feith became at the end of 1918 the first permanent secretary of the new Ministry of education.
- 3.
Mr. P.W.A. Cort van der Linden, an independent liberal, was Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of The Netherlands during the First World War. Main achievements were the introduction of the right to vote for all men, the introduction of the proportional representation, and the equality of public schools and those based on a religious basis.
- 4.
Dutch: Tweede Kamer, the Dutch House of Commons.
- 5.
Jan H. Wilterdink (1856–1931) worked at the Observatory as second observer from 1878, lecturer from 1901 and first observer from 1910. After the death of Van de Sande Bakhuyzen he was acting director of the Observatory for a short period, until De Sitter took over. When De Sitter officially became acting director, Wilterdink retired.
- 6.
Dutch: Nederlandse Astronomen Club (NAC).
- 7.
Dutch: De Haagse Post.
- 8.
In his Reminiscences Pannekoek said 26 lessons a week.
- 9.
Dutch: Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiderspartij (SDAP).
- 10.
Pannekoek’s name as a prominent socialist was not forgotten, even after he had completely focused on astronomy from 1918 onwards. His picture was carried along on demonstrations during the so-called Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974.
- 11.
Jacob Luyten (1899–1994) received his doctor’s degree with advisor Hertzsprung when he was 22. He worked most of his career at the University of Minnesota in the USA.
- 12.
Willem H. van den Bos (1896–1974) worked in Leiden and went in 1925 to the Union Observatory in South Africa, where he became director in 1941. He worked extensively on double stars. See also Oort, J., ‘Obituary of Willem Hendrik van den Bos’, Proceedings of the NAW, 1974.
- 13.
Private communication from Hens de Sitter , wife of De Sitter’s grandson Ulbo de Sitter, Heusden (province of North-Brabant), 2008.
- 14.
Jan Schilt (1894–1982) received his doctor’s title as a student of Van Rhijn in Groningen in 1924 and worked as an assistant in Leiden from 1922 until 1925. In that year he went to the United States. He invented the later called Schilt photometer, to measure star luminosities and from that their distances. Later he worked at Columbia University until his retirement in 1962.
- 15.
A fundamental star was a star of which the position was measured as accurately as possible. Measurements of other stars could be related to the location of a fundamental star.
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Guichelaar, J. (2018). Director of the Observatory and Stay in Arosa. In: Willem de Sitter. Springer Biographies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98337-0_10
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