Pieter Harting (27 February 1812 – 3 December 1885) was a Dutch biologist and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. He made contributions in a number of scientific disciplines, and is remembered for his work in the fields of

microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view subjects too small to be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of microscopy: optical mic ...

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and biostratigraphy.

Career

Medicine and teaching

In 1835 he obtained his medical degree from the University of Utrecht and spent the following years as a doctor in Oudewater. From 1841 he taught classes in medicine at the Athenaeum of Franeker, and two years later returned to the University of Utrecht, where he worked until retirement in 1875. At

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 ...

he was a full professor of

pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...

and plant physiology (from 1846), and later

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

(from 1855). In 1856 he was appointed director of the zoological museum.

Microscope

Throughout his career he maintained an avid interest in the historical development of the

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

and in the manufacture of lenses. He is credited with making design improvements to the microscope, and was the author of a landmark book on microscopy that was translated into several languages, including German (''Das Mikroskop'', 1859 by Friedrich Wilhelm Theile). At Utrecht he established a popular microscopy laboratory for students.

Hydrology and geological cartography

In the field of hydrology he conducted extensive scientific

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

research in an effort to improve the quality of water for public health. In collaboration with other scientists he formed the first committee for creation of a

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

map of the Netherlands.

Views and legacy

He was a member of Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Leiden. Harting was one of the first Dutch scholars to accept the theory of evolution and was important supporter of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

. He died in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

on 3 December 1885. The settlement of Hartingsburg in the Transvaal was named in his honor (later renamed Warmbad), as is a species of

squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

, '' Architeuthis hartingii''.

References

* ''This article was originally based on a translation of the equivalent article from the Dutch Wikipedia.''

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harting, Pieter 1812 births 1885 deaths 19th-century Dutch biologists 19th-century Dutch botanists Microscopists Dutch hydrologists Scientists from Rotterdam Academic staff of Utrecht University Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Directors of museums in the Netherlands