Makkum, Súdwest-Fryslân
Makkum is a village of Súdwest-Fryslân municipality, west of Bolsward on the banks of the lake IJsselmeer in the province Friesland of the Netherlands. It had a population of around 3,460 in January 2017,Bozum) was a Frisian
clergyman
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
,
theologian
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
, and
veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...
.
Education
Eelco Alta was born in 1723 in the coastal village of Makkum, and studied theology at the
University of Franeker
The University of Franeker (1585–1811) was a university in Franeker, Friesland, the Netherlands. It was the second-oldest university of the Netherlands, founded shortly after Leiden University.
History
Also known as ''Academia Franekerensis'' ...
from 1737 until 1745, when he started as a minister in the nearby villages of Beers and Jellum. After nine years he moved to the main
protestant church
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...
of Boazum, where he was to spend almost all of the next fifty years. He was politically active in the last years of the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
, siding (although not explicitly) with the forces of republican "Patriotism", partly for religious reasons. During the royalist backlash of the late 1780s, this caused him some problems: some of his sons were actively persecuted, while he was forced to leave Boazum between 1790 and the
Batavian Revolution
The Batavian Revolution () was a time of political, social and cultural turmoil at the end of the 18th century that marked the end of the Dutch Republic and saw the proclamation of the Batavian Republic.
The initial period, from about 1780 to ...
of 1795. Thereafter, he shortly served as a member of the newly installed parliament of the
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic (; ) was the Succession of states, successor state to the Dutch Republic, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 after the Batavian Revolution and ended on 5 June 1806, with the acce ...
, but afterward admitted to prefer spending his time with his congregation.
Veterinary medicine
Already during his time at university, Alta's aptitude for scholarly work outside of theology was recognized and resulted in his (unsuccessful) candidature for the chair of
Philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
at the
University of Franeker
The University of Franeker (1585–1811) was a university in Franeker, Friesland, the Netherlands. It was the second-oldest university of the Netherlands, founded shortly after Leiden University.
History
Also known as ''Academia Franekerensis'' ...
. He made important contributions to veterinary medicine and published, among others, about the natural causes of cattle diseases. In 1780, the Society for the Advancement of Agriculture in Amsterdam (''Maatschappij ter bevordering van den Landbouw'') awarded him 30 golden guineas for his efforts in promoting vaccination against
Rinderpest
Rinderpest (also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic water buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including gaurs, African Buffalo, buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wilde ...
, about which he submitted an extensive treaty to the society.
Astronomy
Initially anonymously, Alta authored a treatise in 1774, ''Philosophical Considerations concerning the Conjunction of the Planets
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
,
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
,
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
. To be happening on the Eighth of May 1774, and about the Possible and Likely
Astronomical
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...
and Physical Consequences of this Conjunction'', which was to secure his lasting fame. It was long said to have motivated
Eise Eisinga
Eise Jeltes Eisinga (21 February 1744 – 27 August 1828) was a Frisian astronomer and autodidact who built the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in his house in Franeker, Dutch Republic. The orrery still exists and is the oldest functioning planetariu ...
to build his famous
planetarium
A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation.
A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...
(or orrery) in
Franeker
Franeker (; ) is one of the eleven historical City rights in the Low Countries, cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about west of Leeuwarden. As of 2023, it had 13,0 ...
. According to the canonicised view, Alta stated that the upcoming conjunction of the planets with the sun would herald the
apocalypse
Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...
, and through his planetarium, Eisinga was able to prove that in fact, the conjunction would not take place. Modern research has however come to the more prosaic conclusion that Eisinga was mainly motivated by practical motives - most of all not having to calculate the orbits and respective positions of the planets and the sun on paper, but instead using his planetarium as a reference.Huib J. Zuidervaart, ''Speculatie, wetenschap en vernuft. Fysica en astronomie volgens Wytze Foppes Dongjuma (1707-1778), instrumentmaker te Leeuwarden'' (Leeuwarden: Fryske Akademy, 1995). The construction of the orrery appears to have begun ''before'' Alta published his treatise.
The main square in the village of Boazum is named Altaplein in his honor.
Works (selection)
* Eelco Alta (1742), ''Dissertatio tertia ad vaticinia Danielis de ventre ac lateribus æneis in statua et tertia bestia ac ariete bicorne cap. II: 32. VII: 6. VIII: 3 / qvam ... præside ... Hermanno Venema ... publice defendendam suscipiet Eelko Alta'' (Dissertation, Franeker University).
* Eelco Alta (1765), ''Verhandelinge over de natuurlyke oorzaaken der ziekte onder het rund-vee en derzelver langere duuringe als te vooren, waar in ... de in-enting derzelve ... wordt aangepreezen : gaande vooraf twee vertoogen, gezonden aan de Hollandse Maatschappy der Weetenschappen, ter beantwoording eener vraag over deeze stoffe in 1759 voorgesteld en in 1760 herhaald.'' (Leeuwarden: Wigerus Wigeri).
* Eelco Alta (1769), ''Nodige raadgeevingen aan overheden en ingezetenen, dewelke in het bijzonder voor den boer in deeze akelige omstandigheden, waarin het vaderland zig door de ziekte van het rundvee thans bevind, van zeer veel nut kunnen zijn.'' (Leeuwarden: H.A. de Chalmot).
* Eelco Alta (as "Een Liefhebber der Waarheid", 1774), ''Philosophische bedenkingen over de conjunctie van de planeten, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercurius en de Maan, op den 8en May 1774 staande te gebeuren, en wel over de mogelijke en waarschijnlijke sterre- en natuurkundige gevolgen deezer conjunctie.'' (Leeuwarden: Wumkes).
* Nicolaas Ypeij, Eelco Alta & Sj. Meinerts (1781), ''Een drietal gekroonde prysverhandelingen over de vraage: Of het voor de provincie van Friesland voordeeliger zij, den uitvoer van hooi ééns voor al te verbieden of wel voor altoos onbepaald open te stellen? Dan wel of het beter zij, dat de wetgever na gelegenheid den uitvoer bestiert en welke jaartijd tot die bepaaling, met betrekking tot de veehoederij, de geschikste zij?'' (Harlingen: V. van der Plaats).
* Eelco Alta (1795), ''Raadgeevingen aan alle ingezetenen van Friesland, van welke staat, conditie en religie zij mogen zijn als mijne waarde broeders en medeburgers.'' (Sneek: Leeuw).