2.2 Utrecht
17
Athenaeum Illustre since 1632, but this institution was not recognized as a
university and no PhD degree could be awarded there. Franeker’s university
no longer exists, but it flourished until the eighteenth century, although by
the end of this period the number of students was low. The University of
Harderwijk had a reputation as a rather cheap university to obtain a degree,
which physician and botanist Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738) had done, as
well as the Swede Carl Nilsson Linnæus (1707–1778), designer of the systematic classification scheme for the plant and animal kingdoms. The latter
appears not to have been in Harderwijk for more than two weeks, just enough
to have his thesis printed. During the French occupation, all the universities
degraded to école secondaire or similar status, except for those of Leiden and
Groningen. Only after the founding of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, by
the so-called ‘Organiek Besluit’ (Organic Decree) of 1815, the University of
Utrecht was re-established. Those of Franeker and Harderwijk were continued
as atheneums, but turned out not to be viable and were closed in 1818 and
1843 respectively. As mentioned above, it was not until 1876 that Amsterdam
was awarded a (municipal) university. According to the ‘Organic Decree’, the
universities in Groningen, Leiden and Utrecht each had five faculties: theology,
law, mathematics and physics, medical sciences, and philosophy and literature.
Within mathematics and physics four professors taught mathematics, physics,
astronomy, chemistry, biology and agriculture.
Kapteyn received his education from the professors Buys Ballot and Cornelis Hubertus Carolus Grinwis (1831–1899) (see Fig. 2.3). Grinwis taught
mathematics, Buys Ballot physics and astronomy and of course meteorology,
of which he is the founder in the Netherlands. Together with the physiologist and authority in the field of eye diseases Franciscus Cornelis Donders
(1818–1885), biologist and early evolution and Darwin supporter Pieter Harting (1812–1885) and chemist and protein expert Gerardus Johannes Mulder
(1803–1880) they probably formed the most renowned faculty of exact sciences of their time in the Netherlands. Utrecht was an excellent choice for
those who wanted to study mathematics and physics, but Kapteyn’s choice
to go there was most likely also a result of the proximity of Barneveld and
especially the fact that his older brothers also studied in Utrecht.
Two of those brothers had preceded him with a study in mathematics and
physics in Utrecht and both would, like Kapteyn, obtain a PhD with Grinwis
as supervisor. These were Nicholas Pieter (1845–1916) and Willem. We have
already met the latter as the one who was appointed professor of mathematics
in Utrecht at the same time as Jacobus was appointed in Groningen. Not only
did they defend their theses with the same professor, they also did so on the
same day, 14 June 1872. Willem’s dissertation was an example of applied math-
17
Athenaeum Illustre since 1632, but this institution was not recognized as a
university and no PhD degree could be awarded there. Franeker’s university
no longer exists, but it flourished until the eighteenth century, although by
the end of this period the number of students was low. The University of
Harderwijk had a reputation as a rather cheap university to obtain a degree,
which physician and botanist Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738) had done, as
well as the Swede Carl Nilsson Linnæus (1707–1778), designer of the systematic classification scheme for the plant and animal kingdoms. The latter
appears not to have been in Harderwijk for more than two weeks, just enough
to have his thesis printed. During the French occupation, all the universities
degraded to école secondaire or similar status, except for those of Leiden and
Groningen. Only after the founding of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, by
the so-called ‘Organiek Besluit’ (Organic Decree) of 1815, the University of
Utrecht was re-established. Those of Franeker and Harderwijk were continued
as atheneums, but turned out not to be viable and were closed in 1818 and
1843 respectively. As mentioned above, it was not until 1876 that Amsterdam
was awarded a (municipal) university. According to the ‘Organic Decree’, the
universities in Groningen, Leiden and Utrecht each had five faculties: theology,
law, mathematics and physics, medical sciences, and philosophy and literature.
Within mathematics and physics four professors taught mathematics, physics,
astronomy, chemistry, biology and agriculture.
Kapteyn received his education from the professors Buys Ballot and Cornelis Hubertus Carolus Grinwis (1831–1899) (see Fig. 2.3). Grinwis taught
mathematics, Buys Ballot physics and astronomy and of course meteorology,
of which he is the founder in the Netherlands. Together with the physiologist and authority in the field of eye diseases Franciscus Cornelis Donders
(1818–1885), biologist and early evolution and Darwin supporter Pieter Harting (1812–1885) and chemist and protein expert Gerardus Johannes Mulder
(1803–1880) they probably formed the most renowned faculty of exact sciences of their time in the Netherlands. Utrecht was an excellent choice for
those who wanted to study mathematics and physics, but Kapteyn’s choice
to go there was most likely also a result of the proximity of Barneveld and
especially the fact that his older brothers also studied in Utrecht.
Two of those brothers had preceded him with a study in mathematics and
physics in Utrecht and both would, like Kapteyn, obtain a PhD with Grinwis
as supervisor. These were Nicholas Pieter (1845–1916) and Willem. We have
already met the latter as the one who was appointed professor of mathematics
in Utrecht at the same time as Jacobus was appointed in Groningen. Not only
did they defend their theses with the same professor, they also did so on the
same day, 14 June 1872. Willem’s dissertation was an example of applied math-