The Letters and Papers of Jan Hendrik Oort: As Archived in the University Library, Leiden

228 Pages·1997·8.37 MB·English

by  J. K. Katgert-Merkelijn (auth.)

TIlELETfERS AND PAPERS OFJANHENDRIKOORT
ASARCHIVEDINTHEUNIVERSITYLIBRARY,LEIDEN
ASTROPHYSICS AND
SPACE SCIENCE LIBRARY
VOLUME213
Executive Committee
W.B.BURTON,Sterrewacht,Leiden,TheNetherlands
J.M.E.KmJPERS,Faculty0/Science,Nijmegen, TheNetherlands
E.P.J. VANDENHEUVEL,AstronomicalInstitute,University0/Amsterdam,
TheNetherlands
H. VANDERLAAN,AstronomicalInstitute, Universityo/Utrecht,
TheNetherlands
EditorialBoard
I.APPENZELLER,LandessternwarteHeidelberg-Konigstuhl,Germany
J.N.BAHCALL,TheInstitute/orAdvancedStudy, Princeton, U.S.A.
F.BERTOLA,UniversitiidiPadova,Italy
W.B.BURTON,Sterrewacht,Leiden,TheNetherlands
J.P.CASSINELLI,Universityo/Wisconsin,Madison, U.S.A.
C.J.CESARSKY,Centred'EtudesdeSaclay, Gi/-sur-YvetteCedex, France
O.ENGVOLD,Instituteo/TheoreticalAstrophysics,University0/Oslo,Norway
J. M.E.KmJPERS,Faculty0/Science,Nijmegen, TheNetherlands
R. McCRAY,University0/Colorado,JILA,Boulder,U.S.A.
P.G.MURDIN,RoyalGreenwichObservatory, Cambridge, U.K.
F.PACINI,IstitutoAstronomiaArcetri,Firenze,Italy
V.RADHAKRISHNAN,RamanResearchInstitute,Bangalore,India
F.H.SHU,Universityo/California,Berkeley,U.S.A.
B.V. SOMOV,AstronomicalInstitute,MoscowStateUniversity,Russia
R.A.SUNYAEV,SpaceResearch'nstitute,Moscow,Russia
S.TREMAINE:CIT).; Universityo/Toronto,Canada
Y.TANAKA,Institute0/Space &AstronauticalScience,Kanagawa,Japan
E.P.J. VANDENHEUVEL,AstronomicalInstitute, University0/Amsterdam,
TheNetherlands
H. VANDERLAAN,AstronomicalInstitute, University0/Utrecht,
TheNetherlands
N.O.WEISS,Universityo/Cambridge,UK
THE LETTERS AND PAPERS
of
JAN HENDRIK OORT
AS ARCHIVED IN
THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, LEIDEN
by
J. K. KATGERT-MERKELIJN
Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands
SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 978-94-010-6432-3 ISBN 978-94-011-5764-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-5764-3
The portrait on the cover was painted in 1987 by Gerard de Wit (1931)
and is reproduced with pennission of the Oort Family
Printed on acid-free paper
AU Rights Reserved
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1997
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover Ist edition 1997
N o 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.
Jan Hendrik Oort, c. 1935
Page Inventory
No.
TABLEOFCONTENTS v
PREFACE ix
INTRODUCTION XI
BIOGRAPHY xv
1. RESEARCHANDTEACHING
1.1. Research, general 1 1-58
1.2. Specificresearchforspeciallectures 43 59- 64
1.3. Bookreviews,biographiesetc 45 65-67
1.4. Popularlecturesandarticles 46 68-73
1.5. CoursesoflecturesatLeidenObservatory 49 74- 76
1.6. Otherlectures 51 77-81
1.7. Researchofcolleaguesandstudents 52 82-87
1.8. Lecturenoteswhenastudent 54 88-89
1.9. Chapter21 ofStarsandStellarSystemsV; Book 55 90-92
1.10. Notesonliterature 56 93
2. CORRESPONDENCE 57
2.1. Generalcorrespondence 57 94-145
2.2. Personalcorrespondence 81 146-191
2.3. Strangelettersandwildtheories 92 192
2.4. Correspondencewithforeign visitors 92 193
2.5. Correspondenceon travel arrangements 93 194
2.6. CorrespondenceonprojectsfinancedbyZWO 93 195-196
2.7. Lettersofrecommendation 94 197
3. LEIDENOBSERVATORY 95
3.1. CorrespondenceontheObservatory 95 198-210
atHartebeespoortdam
3.1.1.CorrespondencewithDr.andMrs.Walraven 95 198
3.1.2.Othercorrespondence 95 199-210
3.2. CorrespondenceRockefellerTelescope 98 211
3.3. LeidsSterrewachtFonds 98 212
3.4. LeidsKerkhoven-BosschaFonds(LKBF) 98 213
v
3.5. AssistantDirector 99 214-219
3.6. Director, 1945-1947 104 220-227
3.7. KenyaExpedition 106 228-231
3.8. BosschaObservatoryatLembang 107 232-233
3.9. Diaries;day-to-dayappointments 108 234
3.10. JanHendrikOortfonds 108 235-236
4. LEIDENUNIVERSITY III
4.1. BaccalaureateCommittee, 1957-1960 III 237
4.2. CommitteefortheDevelopmentofScientific III 238
Research
4.3. BoerhaaveMuseumfortheHistoryofScience 111 239
4.4. AcademicArtsCommittee III 240
4.5. Curatoren 112 241
4.6. Senate, 1951-1955,1963-1969 112 242-244
4.7. FacultyofScience 113 245-248
4.7.1.Councilofthefacultyofscience 113 245
4.7.2.Facultyofscience,General 113 246-248
4.8. BachieneFoundation 114 249
4.9. CivitasAcademica 114 250
5. ASTRONOMYINTHENETHERLANDS 115
5.1. NetherlandsFoundationforRadioAstronomy 115 251-263
5.1.1.Correspondence, 1944-1948 115 251
5.1.2.CorrespondenceSRZM-ZWO, 1959-1966 115 252-253
5.1.3. Researchprogrammes,technical reports 115 254-262
5.1.4.Boardmeetings 118 263
5.2. BeneluxCrossAntennaProject, 1958-1967 118 264-270
5.3. SpaceResearch 122 271-277
5.3.1.GROC 122 271-273
5.3.2. Other 122 274-277
5.4. BulletinoftheAstronomicalInstitutes 123 278
oftheNetherlands
5.5. EclipseCommission 123 279
5.6. SummercourseatNijenrode, 1960 124 280
5.7. Scientificmeetings 124 281-283
5.8. DutchTelescopeinSouthernEurope 124 284
5.9. AcademicCouncil,sectionAstronomy(SSAR) 125 285
vi
6. NETHERLANDS 127
6.1. KNAW(RoyalDutchAcademyofSciences) 127 286-287
6.2. Otherlearnedsocietiesandorganizations, 127 288-288
bothnationalandforeign
6.3. Speeches 128 289
6.4. Teacher'sdegreeexaminations, 1930-1941 128 290
6.5. AcademicCouncil 128 291
6.6. KNMI(RoyalDutchMeteorologicalInstitute) 128 292
6.7. EditorialBoardofNatuurenTechniek 129 293
6.8. ChristiaanHuygens 129 294
7. EUROPE 131
7.1. EuropeanSouthernObservatory 131 295-297
7.2. AstronomyandAstrophysics, 1968-1972 131 298
7.3. AstronomyandAstrophysics,correspondence 132 299
andrefereereports
7.4. EuropeanConferences 132 300
7.5. ForeignProgrammecommittees, 1971-1977 132 301-302
7.6. Astronomy inGermany, 1967 133 303
7.7. PontificalAcademy 133 304-305
7.8. Jury membershipPrixDocteurA.deLeeuw 133 306
8. INTERNATIONAL(WORLD) 135
8.1. InternationalAstronomicalUnion(IAU) 135 307-311
8.2. Inter-UnionCommitteefortheAllocation 136 312
ofFrequencies
8.3. InternationalCouncilofScientificUnions(ICSU) 137 313
8.4. Symposia 138 314-322
8.5. ForeignVisits,lectures,andseminars 144 323-332
8.6. Honoursandprizes 149 333-335
8.7. InternationalComputationCentre 152 336
8.8. CopernicusSOOthAnniversarycelebrations 152 337
8.9. Periodicalpublications 152 338
8.10 HumanitarianIssues 153 339-340
vii
9. PERSONALARCHIVES 155
9.1 Correspondence 155 341-348
9.2 Documentsandnotes 156 349-358
9.3 Personalnotesanddiaries 158 359·361
9.4 Presscuttings 158 362
LISTOFPUBLICAnONS 161
LISTOFABBREVIAnONS 173
NAMEINDEX 176
SUBJECTINDEX 195
VJJJ
PREFACE
Some special names resound through the history of Leiden University: Boerhaave, to
whosecoursesstudentsflocked from alloverEurope, Kamerlingh Onnes andLorentz, who were
awarded Nobel Prizes, and Huizingaand SnouckHurgronje whoenhancedthe reputation ofour
university in the field of the humanities. Jan Oort should also be counted in this illustrious
company. Oort is certainly among the most influential astronomers of the present century, and
Leiden University is proud ofhaving had so eminent a scientist in its midst.
Of course a great part of Oort's significance extended well beyond the world of the
University: hispersonalscientificresearch madehimaleadingfigure in international astronomy,
asdidhisorganizationaleffortson behalfofDutch,European,worldwideastronomy. Buthealso
contributed to University affairs, as Director of Leiden Observatory, as a member of the
University Senate, and as Dean of the Science Faculty. He was actively involved in the
organisationandevaluationofUniversity teaching,andeffectivelyconcernedwithfurthering the
physical sciences, at a time at which it seemed that the Netherlands were falling behind in
trainingscientistsinsufficientnumberstokeepupwithmodernworldwidedevelopments.Hewas
a strong supporter ofthe ideal ofthe Civitas, the academic community ofall students and staff
that people strove to achieve after the second World War. This ideal led Oort to devote
substantial amounts oftime to the Leiden Academic ArtsCenter, as chairman ofthe section for
pictorial arts.
A classical university has an obvious dual responsibility: to create new knowledge and
to convey knowledge to its students. But italso has an obligation to preserveknowledge. When
after Oort's death a great deal of new material became available (augmenting that which had
previously been inventoried with support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific
Research), Leiden University therefore decided to support the description and archiving of an
encompassingcollection ofpapers,letters, andothermaterial describingthe legacyofJ.H. Oort.
Through theeffortsofDr. Katgert-Merkelijn, the LeidenUniversityLibrary now safelyharbours
in its Department ofWestern Manuscripts a remarkably complete collection ofthe papers and
letters of a remarkably complete member of the University community, and, ofcourse, ofthe
international community ofastronomers.
On behalfofthe board ofLeiden University I am pleased to introduce the volume now
lying before you. The inventory could not have been as complete as it now is without the
generosity and interestofthe Oortfamily, who have provided photographs, personal letters and
other material for inclusion in the Archives. This is something we are very grateful for, as this
material in particular will allow future historians and biographers to come to know Oort as a
person even if they have never had the opportunity of meeting him during his life, other than
through·his purely scientific writings.
IX