8.3 Character
159
read many writings about Einstein’s theory of relativity, which interested him
very much, but for which he felt he could not really ‘look through’ it sufficiently.
Prof. Ehrenfest, the physicist in Leiden, offered to come and deliver some lectures on it, for which he came to Groningen. Also philosophical articles were
discussed, which, however, did not satisfy Kapteyn because of his strong sense
of demonstrable reality, so that he could hardly ‘get into’ it. An exception to
this formed exact psychological investigations, for which he always kept a lively
interest. He followed Heymans’ personal research in this field with great interest,
and Heymans often made use of his always available help with mathematical
formulations. This great helpfulness was one of his most characteristic qualities.
His writings on the Skew frequency curves and on the Correlation coefficients were
for example written for the benefit of Groningen biologists.
Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) was a British philosopher, scientist and
politician and his Novum Organum is seen as the basis of modern scientific
research based on experimentation. James Boswell (1740–1795) was a Scottish lawyer and writer, particularly notable for his biography of the British
author, poet, playwright, etc. Samuel Johnson (1709–1784). Paul Ehrenfest
(1880–1933), born in Austria, was professor of theoretical physics in Leiden.
Gerardus Johannes Petrus Josephus Bolland (1854–1922), mentioned in the
next paragraph, was professor of philosophy in Leiden.
Although Kapteyn was not impressed by pure philosophy, because by nature he
was not sufficiently reflective, still made every effort to keep himself informed.
For a year he attended a lecture series by Prof. Bolland, the renowned philosopher in Leiden, not because he was attracted to the personality and doctrine of
this man; on the contrary, these repelled him, unbalanced and uncontrolled as
they appeared to him, but because he wanted to get to know and try to understand, what captivated so many people and enraptured them. Temporarily
Bolland’s fiery eloquence captivated him, but all too soon he felt it changed into
unmotivated outbursts and illogical twists, and his overconfident contempt for
dissenters aroused Kapteyn’s indignation. Levelheaded as he was, this inflammatory and uncontrollable temperament, this absolute subjectivity was as strange
to him as it was unsympathetic. Science, according to him, who from an early
age was accustomed to thinking in the way of natural sciences, had to be first
and foremost objective; without objectivity, he believed, it was like a ship without a rudder, from which nothing good or permanent was to be expected, and
could only confuse and obscure. Lessing’s philosophy and classical tranquility
attracted him much more. His wisdom was closer to him, and he resolved after his retirement when he hoped to devote himself more to literature, to study
this philosopher thoroughly. A few days before his death he ordered Lessing’s
complete works. He has only seen the beautiful volumes and looked forward
to reading them, but they remained unread. So much remained undone, which
159
read many writings about Einstein’s theory of relativity, which interested him
very much, but for which he felt he could not really ‘look through’ it sufficiently.
Prof. Ehrenfest, the physicist in Leiden, offered to come and deliver some lectures on it, for which he came to Groningen. Also philosophical articles were
discussed, which, however, did not satisfy Kapteyn because of his strong sense
of demonstrable reality, so that he could hardly ‘get into’ it. An exception to
this formed exact psychological investigations, for which he always kept a lively
interest. He followed Heymans’ personal research in this field with great interest,
and Heymans often made use of his always available help with mathematical
formulations. This great helpfulness was one of his most characteristic qualities.
His writings on the Skew frequency curves and on the Correlation coefficients were
for example written for the benefit of Groningen biologists.
Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) was a British philosopher, scientist and
politician and his Novum Organum is seen as the basis of modern scientific
research based on experimentation. James Boswell (1740–1795) was a Scottish lawyer and writer, particularly notable for his biography of the British
author, poet, playwright, etc. Samuel Johnson (1709–1784). Paul Ehrenfest
(1880–1933), born in Austria, was professor of theoretical physics in Leiden.
Gerardus Johannes Petrus Josephus Bolland (1854–1922), mentioned in the
next paragraph, was professor of philosophy in Leiden.
Although Kapteyn was not impressed by pure philosophy, because by nature he
was not sufficiently reflective, still made every effort to keep himself informed.
For a year he attended a lecture series by Prof. Bolland, the renowned philosopher in Leiden, not because he was attracted to the personality and doctrine of
this man; on the contrary, these repelled him, unbalanced and uncontrolled as
they appeared to him, but because he wanted to get to know and try to understand, what captivated so many people and enraptured them. Temporarily
Bolland’s fiery eloquence captivated him, but all too soon he felt it changed into
unmotivated outbursts and illogical twists, and his overconfident contempt for
dissenters aroused Kapteyn’s indignation. Levelheaded as he was, this inflammatory and uncontrollable temperament, this absolute subjectivity was as strange
to him as it was unsympathetic. Science, according to him, who from an early
age was accustomed to thinking in the way of natural sciences, had to be first
and foremost objective; without objectivity, he believed, it was like a ship without a rudder, from which nothing good or permanent was to be expected, and
could only confuse and obscure. Lessing’s philosophy and classical tranquility
attracted him much more. His wisdom was closer to him, and he resolved after his retirement when he hoped to devote himself more to literature, to study
this philosopher thoroughly. A few days before his death he ordered Lessing’s
complete works. He has only seen the beautiful volumes and looked forward
to reading them, but they remained unread. So much remained undone, which