152
8 In the Meantime in Groningen
the essentials. This was, of course, before quantum mechanics brought home
the fact that one’s insight is insufficiently developed to ‘look through’ the deeper
domains of physical science without the aid of mathematics.
8.2 Anecdotes
Kapteyn was unconventional and progressive in some respects. For example, all
his children received a similar education. In the words of his daughter Henriette Hertzsprung–Kapteyn [1]. ‘The girls attended the Hoogere Burgerschool
[HBS, in the meantime no longer only accessible] for boys and the Gymnasium, which was still an exception at the time. Kapteyn did not think about
making any difference between his daughters and his son, who also went to the
HBS. For all of them the same choices, everyone the same rights, that is how
it was and remained for him.’ But, she also mentioned, he was also averse to
‘ambition and fighting to be preferred over others.’ When his eldest daughter
came to tell him, radiantly, that she was No. 1 of her class for which she had
worked hard, his answer was: ‘Never do that to me again.’ With this he showed
himself to have a wise and deep insight into the true values of life.’
After high school, all three children went to university. The eldest daughter
studied medicine in Groningen, the younger law, for a while in Groningen, but
she later switched to English in Amsterdam. The son went to Freiburg to study
mining engineering. The fact that he did not go to Delft for this had to do with
the lower costs of studying in Freiburg. Professors did earn a decent salary, but
many of them, including Kapteyn, did extra teaching in order to be able to
finance the costs of their children’s studies. The fact that the daughters went to
university was still quite unusual; the first female student at a university (that
of Groningen) had been Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs (1854–1929), who studied
medicine in 1871, hardly a generation before the Kapteyn daughters entered
university.
The fact that Kapteyn was an unconventional man in a number of ways
may have been a reaction to his strictly religious upbringing. But he did not
allow reform at all fronts. His marriage was along conventional lines; his wife
took care of the household, while Kapteyn saw the finances as his exclusive
responsibility. Kapteyn was also conservative in the formal way he signed letters.
David Gill always ended his letters with a personal remark, such as ‘Your ever
sincere friend, David Gill’. Kapteyn, on the other hand, signed his letters to
Gill with something like ‘(very) truly/sincerely/faithfully yours, J.C. Kapteyn’.
Also in letters to other colleagues, such as Newcomb, he signed with initials,
while Newcomb wrote ‘Simon’.
8 In the Meantime in Groningen
the essentials. This was, of course, before quantum mechanics brought home
the fact that one’s insight is insufficiently developed to ‘look through’ the deeper
domains of physical science without the aid of mathematics.
8.2 Anecdotes
Kapteyn was unconventional and progressive in some respects. For example, all
his children received a similar education. In the words of his daughter Henriette Hertzsprung–Kapteyn [1]. ‘The girls attended the Hoogere Burgerschool
[HBS, in the meantime no longer only accessible] for boys and the Gymnasium, which was still an exception at the time. Kapteyn did not think about
making any difference between his daughters and his son, who also went to the
HBS. For all of them the same choices, everyone the same rights, that is how
it was and remained for him.’ But, she also mentioned, he was also averse to
‘ambition and fighting to be preferred over others.’ When his eldest daughter
came to tell him, radiantly, that she was No. 1 of her class for which she had
worked hard, his answer was: ‘Never do that to me again.’ With this he showed
himself to have a wise and deep insight into the true values of life.’
After high school, all three children went to university. The eldest daughter
studied medicine in Groningen, the younger law, for a while in Groningen, but
she later switched to English in Amsterdam. The son went to Freiburg to study
mining engineering. The fact that he did not go to Delft for this had to do with
the lower costs of studying in Freiburg. Professors did earn a decent salary, but
many of them, including Kapteyn, did extra teaching in order to be able to
finance the costs of their children’s studies. The fact that the daughters went to
university was still quite unusual; the first female student at a university (that
of Groningen) had been Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs (1854–1929), who studied
medicine in 1871, hardly a generation before the Kapteyn daughters entered
university.
The fact that Kapteyn was an unconventional man in a number of ways
may have been a reaction to his strictly religious upbringing. But he did not
allow reform at all fronts. His marriage was along conventional lines; his wife
took care of the household, while Kapteyn saw the finances as his exclusive
responsibility. Kapteyn was also conservative in the formal way he signed letters.
David Gill always ended his letters with a personal remark, such as ‘Your ever
sincere friend, David Gill’. Kapteyn, on the other hand, signed his letters to
Gill with something like ‘(very) truly/sincerely/faithfully yours, J.C. Kapteyn’.
Also in letters to other colleagues, such as Newcomb, he signed with initials,
while Newcomb wrote ‘Simon’.