
Martin (Maarten) van den Hove (
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
ized as Martinus Hortensius (Ortensius)) (1605 – 7 August 1639) was a Dutch
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
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
. His adopted
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
name is a translation of the
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 ...
''hof'' ("garden"), in Latin ''horta''.
Early life
Born in
Delft
Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...
, he studied at
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
under
Snellius and
Isaac Beeckman
Isaac Beeckman (10 December 1588van Berkel, p10 – 19 May 1637) was a Dutch philosopher and scientist, who, through his studies and contact with leading natural philosophers, may have "virtually given birth to modern atomism".Harold J. Cook, in ...
from 1625 to 1627. He received further instruction from Snellius from 1628 to 1630 at Leiden and at
Ghent
Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...
.
Van den Hove and Philippe van Lansberge
In 1628, he began studying under
Philippe van Lansberge, who was introduced to him by Beeckman. Van den Hove became an enthusiastic supporter of Landsberge, who was by now quite aged, and helped Landsberge complete his project to "restore astronomy" (i.e. create new systematic observations to replace old, insufficient data). Landsberge thanked Van den Hove publicly, considered himself lucky that "by divine providence, in my old age, pressed by sickness, such a strong helper came to my aid, as formerly the learned
Rheticus
Georg Joachim de Porris, also known as Rheticus (; 16 February 1514 – 4 December 1574), was a mathematician, astronomer, cartographer, navigational-instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. He is perhaps best known for his trigonomet ...
to the great
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a mathematical model, model of Celestial spheres#Renaissance, the universe that placed heliocentrism, the Sun rather than Earth at its cen ...
."
In 1632, at
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
(''Hafnia'' in Latin) and later reprinted at
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1696,
Petrus Bartholin published ''Apologia pro observationibus, et hypothesibus...Tycho Brahe...Contra...Martini Hortensii Delfensis criminationes et calumnies, quas in praefationem commentationum praeceptoris sui Philippi Lansbergii Middelburgensis, de motu terrae diurno et annuo etc. cosarcinnavit'' ("Defense of the Astronomical Observations and Theses of Tycho Brahe against the accusations and false claims of Martinus Hortensius of Delft, which appear in his preface of the commentary by his teacher Philip van Landsberge, who wrote on the daily and annual motion of the earth"). Van den Hove had attacked many of
Tycho Brahe's claims in his preface to his Latin translation of a work by Landsbergen. This was the ''Commentationes in motum terrae diurnum, & annuum'' (
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Europe
* Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
, 1630). The first Latin edition of Landsberge's illustrated treatise, the ''Commentationes'' taught the probability of earth’s motion according to the Copernican theory. Van den Hove regarded Landsberge, not Tycho Brahe, as the one who was restoring astronomy. "Only Landsberge held all ancient observations in esteem," Van den Hove wrote, "whereas Tycho,
Longomontanus, and
Kepler
Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of p ...
tended to neglect them."
Career as lecturer
At the encouragement of
Gerard Vossius and
Caspar Barlaeus, Van den Hove began lecturing on the mathematical sciences at the Amsterdam Atheneum (''Athenaeum Illustre'') in 1634. The Athenaeum Illustre, which had its seat in the fourteenth century Agnietenkapel, is commonly regarded as the predecessor of the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...
. Upon assuming his new duties, Van den Hove delivered an inaugural speech, later published as ''De dignitate et utilitate Matheseos'' ("On the dignity and utility of the mathematical sciences").
Van den Hove also lectured on
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...
at Amsterdam (1635), and on
navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...
(1637). In 1638, Van den Hove was made a member of the commission negotiating with
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
on the determination of longitude by the method of
Jupiter's moons
There are 97 Natural satellite, moons of Jupiter with confirmed orbits . This number does not include a number of meter-sized moonlets thought to be shed from the inner moons, nor hundreds of possible kilometer-sized outer irregular moons that ...
.
Work and legacy
Van den Hove developed a method for measuring the
diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...
s of planets based on the measured visual angle that his
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...
revealed. His was probably the first independent set of measurements of the apparent sizes of the planets and fixed stars since the work of
Hipparchus
Hipparchus (; , ; BC) was a Ancient Greek astronomy, Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician. He is considered the founder of trigonometry, but is most famous for his incidental discovery of the precession of the equinoxes. Hippar ...
in his
On Sizes and Distances some seventeen centuries earlier.
Van den Hove corresponded with
René Descartes
René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...
,
Marin Mersenne
Marin Mersenne, OM (also known as Marinus Mersennus or ''le Père'' Mersenne; ; 8 September 1588 – 1 September 1648) was a French polymath whose works touched a wide variety of fields. He is perhaps best known today among mathematicians for ...
,
Pierre Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi (; also Pierre Gassend, Petrus Gassendi, Petrus Gassendus; 22 January 1592 – 24 October 1655) was a French philosopher, Catholic priest, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a church position in south-east France, he a ...
,
Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens, Halen, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , ; ; also spelled Huyghens; ; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution ...
, and
Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
. He was made full professor "in the
Copernican theory" in 1635 and then nominated professor at
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
in 1639, but he died there shortly afterwards.
The crater
Hortensius
Quintus Hortensius Hortalus (114–50 BC) was a Roman Republic, Roman lawyer, an orator and a statesman. Politically he belonged to the Optimates. He was consul in 69 BC alongside Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus. His nickname was ''Dionysia ( ...
on the
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 ...
is named after him.
Works
The Galileo Project: Martinus HortensiusRienk Vermij, The Calvinist Copernicans
Abstract Volker Remmert* Volker R. Remmert, ''What Do You Need a Mathematician For? Martinus Hortensius’s “Speech on the Dignity and Utility of the Mathematical Sciences” (Amsterdam 1634)'', in: ''The Mathematical Intelligencer'' 26:4 (2004), 40-47
*
Annette Imhausen
Annette Imhausen (also known as Annette Warner, born 12 June 1970) is a German historian of mathematics known for her work on Ancient Egyptian mathematics. She is a professor in the Normative Orders Cluster of Excellence at Goethe University Fra ...
/Volker R. Remmert: ''The Oration on the Dignity and the Usefulness of the Mathematical Sciences of Martinus Hortensius (Amsterdam, 1634): Text, Translation and Commentary'', in: ''History of Universities'' 21 (2006), 71-150
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hove, Martin Van Den
1605 births
1639 deaths
17th-century Dutch astronomers
17th-century Dutch mathematicians
Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church
Leiden University alumni
Academic staff of Leiden University
People from Delft