Martin Hoek (also ''Martinus'') (13 December 1834 in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

– 3 September 1873 in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and

experimental physicist Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and o ...

Education and career

He started studying medicine in 1852, but spent his last two years at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

in mathematics and physics studying under

Frederik Kaiser Frederik Kaiser (Amsterdam, 10 June 1808 – Leiden, 28 July 1872) was a Dutch astronomer. He was director of the Leiden Observatory from 1838 until his death. He is credited with the advancement of Dutch astronomy through his scientific c ...

. In 1857 he graduated with the Ph.D. dissertation work ''The comet of the years 1556, 1264 and 975, and its alleged identity''. Donati's comet (now officially designated C/1858 L1 and 1858 VI), the second most brilliant comet of the 19th century, had been considered to be a return of the comets of 1556, 1264, and 975. Earlier, in 1856,

Karl Ludwig von Littrow Karl Ludwig Edler von Littrow (18 July 1811 – 16 November 1877) was an Austrian astronomer. Born in Kazan, Russian Empire, he was the son of astronomer Joseph Johann Littrow. He studied mathematics and astronomy at the universities of Universit ...

had discovered at the Vienna State Archives a pamphlet by Joachim Heller containing observations of the

Great Comet of 1556 The Great Comet of 1556 (designated C/1556 D1 in modern nomenclature) was a comet that first appeared in February 1556, and which was observed throughout much of Europe. The comet appears to have been seen in some places before the end of Februar ...

as well as a broadsheet by Paul Fabricius with a map of the comet's course. Using Littrow's discovered materials, Hoek proved conclusively that the comets of 1264 and 1556 were not identical, and that Donati's comet did not therefore represent their reappearance. In 1859 he was associate professor of astronomy at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...

and Director of the Royal Observatory Sonnenborgh. In collaboration with Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans, he wrote ''Recherches de la d'quantite ether contenue dans les Liquids'' (''Research of the amount of aether contained in liquids'') (1864) and ''Sur les contractions dans les Melanges de Liquids'' (''On contractions in mixtures of liquids''). In 1864 he became member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

. In 1868 he performed a modified version of the

Fizeau experiment The Fizeau experiment was carried out by Hippolyte Fizeau in 1851 to measure the relative speeds of light in moving water. Fizeau used a special interferometer arrangement to measure the effect of movement of a medium upon the speed of light. A ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoek, Martin 1834 births 1873 deaths 19th-century Dutch astronomers 19th-century Dutch physicists Leiden University alumni Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Scientists from The Hague Academic staff of Utrecht University