7.1 Gill, Donner, Newcomb
123
beneficial and his humor irresistible. He allowed himself to be photographed with
the two girls, whom he called his ‘lassies’ 1 , teased and spoiled them and was the
nicest uncle one could imagine. At one time Gill and Kapteyn visited the physics
laboratory in Groningen, where a wise quote was painted above every door. One
said: ‘Wisdom is better than rubies’ (wijsheid is beter dan robijnen). ‘I know
what that means’, Gill exclaimed. ‘Whiskey is better than red wine!’ He had as
much fun himself about his joke as all the others. Typical of Gill was his joking
translation of the Latin proverb: Experientia docet. ‘You know: Experience does
it.’
This passage shows Gill’s bond with Kapteyn’s daughters. Many later letters
ended with a request to send greetings to ‘Mrs. Kapteyn’ and to the ‘lassies’. So
what about the son, who was sixteen in 1900 (his birthday was in December)
and whom David Gill must have met also during this and earlier visits? Gerrit
Jacobus is also only very rarely mentioned in Henriette Hertzsprung–Kapteyn’s
biography [1]. As we shall see later, he went to study mining engineering in
Freiburg; after he had become an engineer, he wandered all around the world.
That may well explain why Henriette mentioned him hardly at all in her book,
but when David Gill visited in 1900 all of that was still in the future. Gill’s
special affection for Kapteyn’s daughters may be explained by the fact that he
and his wife had no children and maybe especially had longed for a daughter,
but even then the paucity of mentioning of her brother by Henriette is curious.
In addition to David Gill, two other important astronomers made their
appearance in Groningen. Anders Donner was of great importance to Kapteyn’s
scientific work because of the extensive plate material he produced and sent to
Groningen. He did not like traveling, nor did he like writing letters. Kapteyn
did not like correspondence either, because the letters he wrote to Donner
(those from Donner to Kapteyn have been lost) often begin with extensive
apologies for the long period of time that had elapsed since the last letter.
But they were certainly good friends and according to Henriette Hertzsprung–
Kapteyn’s biography [1], Donner stayed several times in Groningen, and probably also in Vries. The first time was in 1896, when Donner had been at one
of the progress congresses on the Carte du Ciel, and Kapteyn obviously not.
Kapteyn sent instructions how Donner could get from Paris to Groningen
by train. This lasted about 14 hours; Donner would leave Paris at 8:10 and
arrive in Groningen at 22:08 after a transfer in Rotterdam. Despite the great
importance of Donner for Kapteyn’s work, he is hardly mentioned in other
people’s writings about Kapteyn. The number of publications of Donner in
international journals is small and—with the exception of those with Kapteyn
1 As mentioned before, Gill was Scottish by birth (Aberdeen) and ‘lass’ for girl is mainly used in Scotland
and the north of England.
123
beneficial and his humor irresistible. He allowed himself to be photographed with
the two girls, whom he called his ‘lassies’ 1 , teased and spoiled them and was the
nicest uncle one could imagine. At one time Gill and Kapteyn visited the physics
laboratory in Groningen, where a wise quote was painted above every door. One
said: ‘Wisdom is better than rubies’ (wijsheid is beter dan robijnen). ‘I know
what that means’, Gill exclaimed. ‘Whiskey is better than red wine!’ He had as
much fun himself about his joke as all the others. Typical of Gill was his joking
translation of the Latin proverb: Experientia docet. ‘You know: Experience does
it.’
This passage shows Gill’s bond with Kapteyn’s daughters. Many later letters
ended with a request to send greetings to ‘Mrs. Kapteyn’ and to the ‘lassies’. So
what about the son, who was sixteen in 1900 (his birthday was in December)
and whom David Gill must have met also during this and earlier visits? Gerrit
Jacobus is also only very rarely mentioned in Henriette Hertzsprung–Kapteyn’s
biography [1]. As we shall see later, he went to study mining engineering in
Freiburg; after he had become an engineer, he wandered all around the world.
That may well explain why Henriette mentioned him hardly at all in her book,
but when David Gill visited in 1900 all of that was still in the future. Gill’s
special affection for Kapteyn’s daughters may be explained by the fact that he
and his wife had no children and maybe especially had longed for a daughter,
but even then the paucity of mentioning of her brother by Henriette is curious.
In addition to David Gill, two other important astronomers made their
appearance in Groningen. Anders Donner was of great importance to Kapteyn’s
scientific work because of the extensive plate material he produced and sent to
Groningen. He did not like traveling, nor did he like writing letters. Kapteyn
did not like correspondence either, because the letters he wrote to Donner
(those from Donner to Kapteyn have been lost) often begin with extensive
apologies for the long period of time that had elapsed since the last letter.
But they were certainly good friends and according to Henriette Hertzsprung–
Kapteyn’s biography [1], Donner stayed several times in Groningen, and probably also in Vries. The first time was in 1896, when Donner had been at one
of the progress congresses on the Carte du Ciel, and Kapteyn obviously not.
Kapteyn sent instructions how Donner could get from Paris to Groningen
by train. This lasted about 14 hours; Donner would leave Paris at 8:10 and
arrive in Groningen at 22:08 after a transfer in Rotterdam. Despite the great
importance of Donner for Kapteyn’s work, he is hardly mentioned in other
people’s writings about Kapteyn. The number of publications of Donner in
international journals is small and—with the exception of those with Kapteyn
1 As mentioned before, Gill was Scottish by birth (Aberdeen) and ‘lass’ for girl is mainly used in Scotland
and the north of England.