Gerrit Moll Explained

Gerard "Gerrit" Moll LLD (1785–1838) was a Dutch scientist and mathematician. A polymath in his interests, he published in four languages.^[1]

Life

From a family background in Amsterdam of commerce, Moll was drawn towards science.^[2] His teacher at the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam was Jean Henri van Swinden. He took up astronomy with Jan Frederik Keijser in 1801.^[3] In 1809 he was awarded a Candidaat degree by Leiden University;^{[4] [5]} and in 1810 he went to Paris, where he studied under Delambre.^{[4] [6]} Moll is noted for his later animus against "Napoleonic science", the tradition of the revolutionary period in France.^[7]

In 1812 Moll was appointed director at Utrecht Observatory, a position he then held for 26 years; and in 1815 professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Utrecht, receiving an honorary Ph.D. (under Johannes Theodorus Rossijn).^{[4] [5]} He became member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands in 1815.^[8]

During the "declinist" controversy in British science around 1830, Moll spoke in praise of the British tradition, against the trend of increasing professionalisation.^[9] A friend of Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday, he wrote a pamphlet On The Alleged Decline of Science in England (1831), which Faraday edited, in reply to Charles Babbage's On The Alleged Decline of Science in England (1830).^[10] In relation to claims that French scientists had tried to diminish the impact of Davy's work, Moll relayed unfounded allegations to Faraday.^[11]

Moll died of typhoid on 17 January 1838.^[2]

Works

Moll developed the electromagnet of William Sturgeon, publishing with priority over Joseph Henry.^[12]

Notes and References

1. Book: Lewis Pyenson. Empire of Reason: Exact Sciences in Indonesia, 1840-1940. 1989. BRILL. 978-90-04-08984-6. 21.
2. Book: Klaas Van Berkel. Albert Van Helden. L. C. Palm. The History of Science in the Netherlands: Survey, Themes and Reference. 1999. BRILL. 978-90-04-10006-0. 531.
3. Book: Huibert J. Zuidervaart. Rob H. van Gent. Between Rhetoric and Reality: Instrumental Practices at the Astronomical Observatory of the Amsterdam Society 'Felix Meritis', 1786-1889. 2013. Uitgeverij Verloren. 978-90-8704-363-6. 84.
4. Book: Pieter C. van der Kruit. Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn: Born Investigator of the Heavens. 18 November 2014. Springer. 978-3-319-10876-6. 29.
5. Book: Moll, Gerard. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers . 2007. 794. 10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_967. Frommert. Hartmut. Springer. New York. 978-0-387-31022-0.
6. Book: Huibert J. Zuidervaart. Rob H. van Gent. Between Rhetoric and Reality: Instrumental Practices at the Astronomical Observatory of the Amsterdam Society 'Felix Meritis', 1786-1889. 2013. Uitgeverij Verloren. 978-90-8704-363-6. 150.
7. Robert Fox, Scientific Enterprise and the Patronage of Research in France 1800–70, Minerva Vol. 11, No. 4 (October 1973), pp. 442–473, p. 445 note 16. Published by: Springer. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41820168
8. Web site: Gerard (Gerrit) Moll (1785 - 1838) . Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences . 17 July 2015.
9. Book: Richard Yeo. Defining Science: William Whewell, Natural Knowledge and Public Debate in Early Victorian Britain. 18 September 2003. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-54116-9. 79.
10. Joseph Agassi, An Unpublished Paper of the Young Faraday, Isis Vol. 52, No. 1 (Mar., 1961), pp. 87-90, at p. 87. Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/228343
11. Book: David Knight. David M. Knight. Sources for the History of Science, 1660-1914. 1975. CUP Archive. 85. GGKEY:07DR2AJ2N9B.
12. Book: Maury Klein. The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Invented Modern America. 1 September 2010. Bloomsbury Publishing. 978-1-59691-834-4. 72.