Book Review: An Observatory That Failed, between Rhetoric and Reality: Astronomical Practices at the Observatory of the Amsterdam Society ‘Felix Meritis’, 1786–1889

Abstract

AN OBSERVATORY THAT FAILED Between Rhetoric and Reality: Astronomical Practices at the Observatory of the Amsterdam Society 'Felix Meritis', 1786-1889. Huib J. Zuidervaart and Rob H. van Gent (Verloren, Hilversum, 2013). Pp. 152. euro19. ISBN 978-90-8704-363-6.The history of astronomy is not just a tale of heroic geniuses and grand institutions, but also of failed attempts and might-have-beens. Just how fine the line between success and failure can be is illustrated by this book about a forgotten eighteenthcentury observatory in the middle of Amsterdam.In the introduction, the authors present their book as a study of astronomical practice in one specific location, for which they use the notion of a 'workshop of knowledge'. That is exactly what they deliver in this well-written and thoroughly researched study. But the impression that remains is the one suggested by the title, the dramatic gap between rhetoric and reality. Started with lofty ambitions and excellent facilities, the Felix Meritis observatory subsequently became characterized by missed chances, foolhardy decisions and sheer bad luck. The story makes for much more compelling reading than the obscurity of the subject would suggest.Felix Meritis was founded in 1777 as a learned society in the best traditions of Enlightenment. Its activities included arts, commerce, drawing, and science. A hefty entrance fee ensured an exclusively elite membership. In 1786, the society was unexpectedly able to purchase an excellent set of astronomical instruments from the legacy of J. M. Mohr (about whom Van Gent and Zuidervaart published an article in Isis in 2004). There was some legal trouble when it turned out that the seller was not actually the owner, but that was subsequently resolved.Of course, the new instruments needed a place, so when the society opened a new building on the prestigious Keizersgracht, it contained the first purpose-built observatory of the Netherlands. The 'wonder child' Pieter Nieuwland, educated by the great Franz Xaver von Zach in Gotha, was hired as observer. Everything seemed set for a glorious future.It was not to be. Nieuwland was soon lured away by Leiden University, despite its inferior astronomical facilities. He died one year later. This story repeated itself several times. Promising young scholars were appointed as observers, but they transferred to prestigious (and well-paid) professorships at the universities in Leiden or Utrecht, they died prematurely, they were prevented from using the observatory by unbending social rules or personal conflicts, or a combination of these things. …