The Legacy of J.C. Kapteyn: Studies on Kapteyn and the Development of Modern Astronomy

400 Pages·2000·61.084 MB·English

by  P. C. Van Der Kruit, K. Van Berkel (auth.)

THE LEGACY OF J.e. KAPTEYN
ASTROPHYSICS AND
SPACE SCIENCE LIBRARY
VOLUME 246
EDITORIAL BOARD
Chairman
W. B. BURTON, Sterrewacht, Leiden, P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
[email protected]
Executive Committee
J. M. E. KUIJPERS, Faculty of Science, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
E. P. J. VAN DEN HEUVEL, Astronomical Institute, University of Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
H. VAN DER LAAN, Astronomical Institute, University of Utrecht,
The Netherlands
MEMBERS
I. APPENZELLER, Landesstemwarte Heidelberg-Konigstuhl, Gennany
J. N. BAHCALL, The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, U.S.A.
F. BERTOLA, Universitd di Padova, Italy
J. P. CASSINELLI, University o.fWisconsin, Madison, U.S.A.
C. J. CESARSKY, Centre d'Etudes de Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
O. ENGVOLD, Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, Norway
R. McCRAY, University o.f Colorado, JILA, Boulder, U.S.A.
P. G. MURDIN, Royal Greenwich Observatory, Cambridge, U.K.
F. PACINI, Istituto Astronomia Arcetri, Firenze, Italy
V. RADHAKRISHNAN, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India
K. SATO, School o.f Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan
F. H. SHU, University of Califomia, Berkeley, U.S.A.
B. V. SOMOV, Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Russia
R. A. SUNYAEV, Space Research Institute, Moscow, Russia
Y. TANAKA, Institute of Space & Astronautical Science, Kanagawa, Japan
S. TREMAINE, CITA, Princeton University, U.S.A.
N. O. WEISS, University of Cambridge, U.K.
THE LEGACY
OF J.C. KAPTEYN
Studies on Kapteyn and the Development of Modem Astronomy
by
P. C. VAN DER KRUIT
University of Groningen and Director of Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
and
K. VAN BERKEL
University of Groningen and Director of Rudolf Agricola Institute
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
DORDRECHT I BOSTON I LONDON
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4020-0374-5 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-9864-9
DOT: 10.1007/978-94-010-9864-9
Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
Sold and distributed in North, Central and South America
by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
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In all other countries, sold and distributed
by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
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Printed on acidjree paper
All Rights Reserved
© 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 2000
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
Printed in the Netherlands.
Contents
Preface ix
1
Meeting Kapteyn in the Kapteyn Room 1
A. Blaauw
2
The 'Lost Letters' of J.C. Kapteyn 31
Petra van der Heijden
3
Kapteyn and Groningen: A Portrait 53
Wessel E. Krul
4
Kapteyn and de Sitter; a Rare and Special Teacher-Student and 79
Coach-Player Relationship
W.R. de Sitter
5
Kapteyn and South Africa 109
Michael Feast
6
Internationalism, Kapteyn and the Dutch Pipeline 129
David H. De Vorkin
7
Growing Astronomers for Export: Dutch Astronomers in the United 151
States before World War II
Klaas van Berkel
8
Kapteyn and Cosmology 175
Robert W. Smith
v
VI THE LEGACY OF J.C. KAPTEYN
9
Kapteyn, Shapley, and their Universes 191
Owen Gingerich
10
Kapteyn and the Selected Areas: a Personal Perspective 213
T.D. Kinman
11
Kapteyn's Influence on the Style and Content of Twentieth Century 229
Dutch Astronomy
Woodruff T. Sullivan, III
12
Surveys and Star Counts: the Kapteyn Legacy 265
Gerard Gilmore
13
Modern Astrometry 277
Michael Perryman
14
The Milky Way Compared to External Galaxies 299
P. C. van der K ruit
15
Kapteyn's (m, log r) Table and Cosmology 325
Maarten Schmidt
16
Kapteyn's Unfortunate Universe 337
L. Woltjer
Appendix A
J.H. Oort's Public Lecture of 1926: "Non-Light-Emitting Matter 345
in the Stellar System"
Introduced and translated by P. C. van der Kruit
Appendix B
Note on E.R. Paul's translation of H. Hertzsprung-Kapteyn's bi- 367
ography of J.C. Kapteyn
K. van Berkel and P.C. van der Kruit
Index 379
Vll
Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn (1851 - 1922). This picture was taken in the Monastery
(the residence of visiting astronomers) at Mount Wilson in the summer of 1908. Kap
teyn is holding a copy of the literary magazine "The Dial". (Photograph supplied by
T.D. Kinman, courtesy of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washing
ton.)
Vlll THE LEGACY OF J.C. KAPTEYN
The original Kapteyn AstronomiCal Laboratory in the center of Groningen (top) and
the current location (bottom) of the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute in the Zernike
Building (middle and part of top floor) on the Zernike Complex on thenorth side of
Groningen.
Preface
The University of Groningen was founded in 1614 and consequently
celebrated in 1999 its 385th anniversary. In the course of that year we
were less than two years away from the end of the twentieth century and
the beginning of the third millenium. The twentieth century started
immediately after the completion of Kapteyn's co-publication (between
1896 and 1900) of the "Cape Photographic Durchmusterung", a work that
established his international fame and leadership. Kapteyn's influence
on astronomy in the Netherlands is still alive; in fact it may be safely
stated that the success of Dutch astronomy in this century has for a
major part been derived from Kapteyn through his work, his students
and his strong commitment to international collaboration.
The symposium "The Legacy of J. C. Kapteyn" was part of Groningen
University's celebration of its lustrum and was jointly organized by the
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute and the History Department. An im
portant aim was to address issues related to the sociology of Kapteyn's
influence and to try to trace the continuation of Kapteyn's initiatives in
research, campaigns and organisations by concentrating on both persons
and themes. Points addressed in these contexts were:
• Kapteyn had a unique style and personality that inspired everyone
around him. Not only did this lead to a revival of Dutch astronomy in
his day, eventually giving rise to its prominence during the twentieth
century, but Kapteyn's personal influence and persuasion enabled him
to playa major role internationally in the conduct of astronomy. How
did this happen?
• Kapteyn strongly influenced Dutch astronomy, starting with the found
ing of his Astronomical Laboratory that had no telescopes of its own.
In the first decades of this century his Laboratory overshadowed the ob
servatories at Leiden and Utrecht and Kapteyn's "school" continued to
playa leading role in Dutch astronomy with van Rhijn in Groningen and
IX
x THE LEGACY OF J.C. KAPTEYN