Hortensius, Martinus [Ortensius or Van den Hove, Maarten]

1. Dates

Born: Delft, 1605

Died: Leiden, 7 August 1639

Dateinfo: Birth Uncertain

Lifespan: 34

2. Father

Occupation: No Information

No information on financial status.

3. Nationality

Birth: Delft, Netherlands

Career: Netherlands

Death: Leiden, Netherlands

4. Education

Schooling: Leiden

Studied mathematics with Beeckman and Snel. 1625-7, he engaged in astronomical observation at Leiden though he was not enrolled. He received instruction from Snel.

1628-1630, at Leiden and Ghent, inscribed as a student.

Beeckman introduced him to Philip van Landsbergen, whose pupil he became.

Apparently he never received a B.A.

5. Religion

Affiliation: Calvinist (assumed)

6. Scientific Disciplines

Primary: Astronomy

Subordinate: Optics, Navigation

After Snel's death, Hortensius completed and published his final work.

He lectured on optics at Amsterdam in 1635, and he lectured on navigation in 1637.

7. Means of Support

Primary: Academia

1634, lectured on mathematics at Amsterdam Atheneum, an institution just established.

He was enclouraged to apply for this position by Gerard Vossius and Caspar Barlaeus.

1635, full professor `in the Copernican theory.'

1639, nominated professor at Leiden, but died shortly after.

8. Patronage

Types: Governmental Official, Aristocracy

He dedicated a work of 1631 to Abraham van der Meer, Senator in the States of Holland.

In 1634 he was planning to dedicate a work on the diameter of the sun to Fabri de Peiresc, but it was never finished.

He dedicated his lectures on optics in 1635 to a Polish nobleman, Rozdrazewsky.

9. Technological Involvement

Types: Navigation, Instruments

1638, a member of the commission negotiating with Galileo on the determination of longitude by the method of the satelites of Jupiter. Also lectured on navigation.

He developed a method for measuring the diameters of planets based on the measured visual angle that his telescope embraced.

10. Scientific Societies

Memberships: None

Collaborated with Philip van Lansberge. Corresponded with Descartes, Mersenne, Gassendi, Huygens, Galileo, and Crueger, Fabri de Peiresc, Schikard.

Sources

1. C. de Waard, "Hortensius," Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch Woordenboek, 1, (Leiden, 1911), cols. 1160-4. [ref. CT1143.M72 v.1] Robert McKeon, "Le debuts de l'astronomie de precision," Physis, 13 (1971), 225-88; 14 (1972), 221-42; especially 13, 230.

Compiled by:

Richard S. Westfall

Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Indiana University

Note: the creators of the Galileo Project and this catalogue cannot answer email on geneological questions.