David Baneke

Teach and Travel: Leiden Observatory and the Renaissance of Dutch Astronomy in the Interwar Years

On Sunday 3 March 1918 Ernst Frederik van de Sande Bakhuyzen, director of Leiden Observatory, unexpectedly died. Within days Willem de Sitter was appointed acting director, pending further decisions. De Sitter immediately contacted J. C. Kapteyn, the grand old man of Dutch astronomy and his former mentor in Groningen, to discuss the future of the observatory. This was their chance to resurrect the institution after decades of stagnation. It was also a chance to make astronomy join the “second golden age” of Dutch science that played a prominent role in contemporary cultural nationalism. Scientists such as J. D. van der Waals, H. A. Lorentz, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and Hugo de Vries were considered the direct heirs of Christiaan Huygens and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the heroes of the first “golden age” in the seventeenth century. Kapteyn (Figure 1) was a national pride too, but he was a lonely figure. He had built his reputation against all odds, having started without any facilities, funding or staff. The rest of Dutch astronomy did not share in the recent successes of the other sciences. The

Organizing Space: Dutch Space Science Between Astronomy, Industry, and the Government

This paper analyzes how scientists, private companies and the government in the Netherlands cooperated in the creation of the new field of space research. It examines especially the role of Philips Electronics and Fokker Aircraft, and the consequences of their different structure and corporate identities for their involvement in space projects. It also highlights the importance of management knowledge in addition to scientific and technological skill. Finally, I provide insights into the backgrounds of the new innovation policy of the 1980s and 1990s. The policy was supposed to stimulate new ways of cooperation between science and industry, but at the same time, it meant the end of some older forms of academic-industrial collaboration.

Astronomy after Oort: The Changes in Administrative Culture in Science and the Universities in the 1970s and 1980s

In the early 1970s Dutch universities were reformed, while scientific research was faced with new social and political demands. A decade later science and university policy changed again, with increasing roles for market pressure and competition. These developments might seem opposed, but in this paper David Baneke will argue that in fact there was great continuity, both concerning the backgrounds of the policy and the practical consequences. Their goal was to cope with the rapid increase in scale and the costs of science, to open up closed elitist networks, and to counter inefficiency and arbitrary spending. The pressure to reform came both from policy makers and from within the universities themselves. In all cases the changes resulted in professional management structures and an increase in bureaucracy. In this paper, Baneke will analyse these developments from the perspective of the internationally prominent Dutch astronomical community, which experienced a serious crisis in 1970 in which every part of the disciplinary infrastructure was reconsidered.

'Als bij toverslag'. De reorganisatie en nieuwe bloei van de Leidse Sterrewacht, 1918-1924

‘As if by magic’. The reorganisation and renewed prosperity of Leyden Observatory, 1918-1924 In 1918, Leyden Observatory was a somewhat backward institute, but by 1928 it had transformed itself into a prominent international scientific centre. This article describes the reorganisation and expansion of the Observatory between 1918 and 1924 under the leadership of W. de Sitter, starting with the appointment of De Sitter and E. Hertzprung and the rejection, for political reasons, of A. Pannekoek. It also presents a reconstruction of the reorganisation. The article also describes the changes in Dutch astronomy in the 1920s: its expansion, the establishment of national organisations, and the extension of international contacts, especially with Anglo Saxon countries. Leyden became a centre in the international astronomer’s network, partly thanks to the influence of the Groningen astronomer J.C. Kapteyn. After the First World War, it played an important role as the link between scientists from the former Allied and Central countries. The thorough theoretical and practical training given at Leyden Observatory produced young astronomers that were highly valued all over the world. Combined with the international contacts and diplomatic skills of De Sitter, this formed the foundation from which the Observatory went on the prosper. One curious aspect is that the Observatory’s scientific findings played a minor role in this success.