Jean Henri van Swinden | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1746-06-08)June 8, 1746 |
| Died | March 9, 1823(1823-03-09) (aged 76) |
| Alma mater | Leiden University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Franeker Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam |
| Thesis | De attractione (1766) |
Jean Henri van Swinden (8 June 1746 – 9 March 1823) was a Dutch mathematician and physicist who taught at theUniversity of Franeker and in theAthenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam.
His parents were the lawyer Phillippe van Swinden and Marie Anne Tollosan. He was trained 1763-1766 at theLeiden University, where he became doctor of philosophy on 12 June 1766 with the thesisDe attractione.[1] He became professor at theUniversity of Franeker the same year, where he continued to study and conduct research as well as teach. In 1776 he won a prize from theFrench Academy of Sciences along withCharles-Augustin de Coulomb for his work onEarth's magnetic field, and the relationship betweenmagnetism andelectricity. A year later he won a prize from theBavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. His description ofEise Eisinga'splanetarium in 1780 was later republished.
In 1785 he moved to Amsterdam where he became professor at theAthenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam. There he was instrumental in introducing ahouse numbering system (useful for the postal service) and in 1795 he directed the first census. In 1798 he led a commission to report on the state of the health of the inhabitants of Amsterdam, based on the results of the census. He was part of an international commission to determine the length of the meter, as a first step to introducing themetric system in the Netherlands. His lectures atFelix Meritis from 1777 onwards on this subject were bundled and published asVerhandeling over volmaakte maaten en gewigten in 1802.
His international good name led him to be appointed as representative during the French occupation. He was one of the founders appointed byLouis Bonaparte in 1808 for theKoninklijk Instituut van Wetenschappen[2] along withMartinus van Marum,Martinus Stuart, andJeronimo de Bosch.
TheVan Swinden Laboratorium, today theNederlands Meetinstituut, was named after him in 1971 and several streets in Amsterdam are named after him.
