Chriet Titulaer (May 9, 1943 – April 23, 2017), born in
Hout-Blerick
Hout-Blerick ( li, houtbliërik) is a village in Limburg which is part of the municipality Venlo
Venlo () is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg, ...
,
Venlo
Venlo () is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg, about 50 km east of the city of Eindhoven, 65 km north east of the provincial capital Maastricht, a ...
,
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
, was a Dutch astronomer, television presenter and
popular science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
and technology writer. He lived in
Houten
Houten () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.
Population centres
The municipality consists of the following towns:
* 't Goy
* Houten
* Schalkwijk
* Tull en 't Waal
Houten (town)
The main town in the municipality is ...
,
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
.
Biography
Titulaer went to high school at the St.-Thomascollege in Venlo (now the Valuas College). He studied maths and physics at the
University of Utrecht
Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...
with a major in astronomy. At the university he joined the student association CS Veritas. During his studies he founded (together with Ton Smit) the Venlo chapter of the ''Nederlandse Vereniging voor Weer- en Sterrenkunde'' (Dutch association for meteorology and astronomy) on April 18, 1965 (since 1990 known as the ''Weer- en Sterrenkundige Vereniging "Jean Delsing"'').
The next year he organized the exposition ''Mens en het Heelal'' (Man and the Universe), then the largest meteorology, astronomy and space travel exposition ever held in the Netherlands.
After having lived and worked in the United States and France (both for two years) he became a presenter of Dutch radio and television programmes about science and technology. Between 1969 and 1990 he was often seen on television. His popularity began as co-presenter of the live transmission of the
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...
moon landing
A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959.
The United St ...
(as well as the later moon landings), together with
Henk Terlingen
Hendrik L.E.M. (Henk) Terlingen (born 31 August 1941 in Amsterdam, died 12 July 1994 in Geldermalsen) was a Dutch radio and television presenter.[audience share
Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites. Somet ...]
of 100%, a feat never again repeated on
Dutch television
Television in the Netherlands was officially Timeline of the introduction of television in countries, introduced in 1951. In the Netherlands, the television market is divided between a number of commercial networks, such as RTL Nederland, and a sys ...
.
[Interview with Chriet Titulaer]
, ''WAVE magazine'', July 1996 He also was the
commentator for the first launch of
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the Columbia Rediviva, first American ship to circumnavigate the upper North American Pacific coast and the ...
in 1981.
Television producer and writer
![Chriet Titulaer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Chriet_Titulaer.png)
In 1983 Titulaer began his own television production company ''Chriet Titulaer Producties BV'' and did much work for
Teleac and the
TROS
Tros or TROS may refer to:
* 18281 Tros, an asteroid
* Transformer read-only storage, a type of read-only memory
* TROS, a Dutch broadcasting union, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting
* Tros (mythology), a figure in Greek ...
. He presented popular science programmes such as ''Wondere Wereld'' (Miraculous World) and television courses such as ''Moderne Sterrenkunde'' (Modern Astronomy) and ''Nederland en het Weer'' (The Netherlands and the Weather).
Later activities
In 1986 he organized the space travel exhibition ''Space '86'' in the
Jaarbeurs
The Jaarbeurs (; Dutch for 'Yearly Fair') is an exhibition and convention centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Noted events include the former Space '86, the Hobby Computer Club Days (''HCC Dagen''), and the Mega Record & CD Fair. The venue is a ...
in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
. As a promotion a true to size painting of a
Saturn V
Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...
rocket was put on the side of the
Dom Tower of Utrecht
The Dom Tower (Cathedral Tower, Dutch: ''Domtoren'') of Utrecht is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands, at 112.5 metres (368 feet) in height. It is considered the symbol of Utrecht. The tower was part of St. Martin's Cathedral, als ...
as both the rocket and the church tower are about 110 metres tall.
Titulaer wrote many books about popular science, computers, IT, meteorology and astronomy. He was an active advocate for science and technology and was often asked as a keynote speaker for events related to these areas, and for theme days on schools and universities. His appearances on radio and television became relatively rare.
He founded projects such as the now defunct ''Huis van de Toekomst'' (House of the Future), ''Kantoor van de Toekomst'' (Office of the Future) and the ''Ziekenhuis van de Toekomst'' (Hospital of the Future). He also co-initiated the recreation and education park for astronomy and space travel ''Cosmo Science Center'' in
North Brabant
North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...
.
Trivia
*After the
Apollo program was axed in the early '70s Titulaer visited the
Rockwell factory and saw one of the unfinished
Apollo capsules standing there which had been under construction for one of the
cancelled flights at a cost of US$10 million. Jokingly he said he would buy it for $1 and to his surprise the Rockwell representative accepted his offer and held him to the purchase.
Martin Schröder Martin Schröder may refer to:
* Martin Schröder (chemist) (born 1954), professor of inorganic chemistry
* Martin Schröder (aviator)
Johan Martin Schröder (born 13 May 1931 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch pilot and founder of Martinair, the second D ...
, president of
Martinair
Martinair (legally ''Martinair Holland N.V.'') is a Dutch cargo airline headquartered and based at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and a subsidiary of Air France–KLM. The airline was founded in 1958 by Martin Schröder. Since 2011, Martinair has op ...
, who was also there said he would stick it in the back of his
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
. The capsule didn't fit through the plane's doors so Titulaer had it shipped to the Netherlands. There it stood in the backyard of his house as a
garden ornament
A garden ornament is an item used for garden, landscape, and park enhancement and decoration. Garden ornaments include:
* bench
*bird baths
* bird feeders
* birdhouses
*columns – cast stone
*fire basket
* flower box
** window box
*fountains ...
for many years until a Japanese gentleman rang his doorbell and offered to buy the capsule for 30,000 Dutch guilders, which Titulaer accepted.
*An
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
is named after him:
12133 Titulaer.
*Public transport company
Veolia Transport
Veolia Transport (formerly Connex and CGEA Transport) was the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia until the 2011 merger that gave rise to Veolia Transdev. Veolia Transport traded under the ...
named one of their ''Velios'' trains after Titulaer.
[ ''Veolia heeft nog wel dertig namen voorradig'', ]de Gelderlander
''De Gelderlander'' (founded 1848) is a Dutch daily newspaper focused on Gelderland and immediate surroundings. It is published in Nijmegen by the Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belg ...
, November 21, 2007
*His
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
style beard and his
soft G
In the Latin-based orthographies of many European languages, the letter is used in different contexts to represent two distinct phonemes that in English are called hard and soft . The sound of a hard (which often precedes the non-front vowel ...
resulted in a striking appearance, instantly recognizable in the Netherlands.
*Titulaer's given name is the short form of Christiaan or Christoffel in Limburg and is pronounced in English as .
*Several Dutch comedians such as Hilbert Elskamp, Robert Paul, Diederik van Vleuten,
André van Duin
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...
and
Wim de Bie
Willem Philippe "Wim" de Bie (; born 17 May 1939) is a Dutch comedian, writer and singer. He formed the comedy duo Van Kooten en De Bie with Kees van Kooten. G.J. van Bork,Bie, Wim de, ''Schrijvers en dichters'', 2002. Retrieved on 17 December ...
did comic impressions of him.
Bibliography
*Operatie maan (verslag in woord en beeld van de ruimtevaart en maanlanding) (1969)
*Maanonderzoek (1969)
*Elseviers atlas van de planeten (1971)
*Het Grote Hemelboek (1972)
*Apollo, dossier van het project (1973)
*Ruimtevaart, moet dat nou? (1974)
*Landing op Mars (1975)
*Het grote planetenboek (1976)
*Leven op andere planeten (1976)
*De mens in het heelal (1977)
*De mens en het weer (1979)
*Van Spoetnik tot spaceshuttle (1979)
*Televisiesatellieten (1980)
*Toekomstbeeld (video, kabeltelevisie, satelliettelevisie, huiscomputer, viditel, teletekst) (1980)
*Fotografie bij de politie (1981)
*De mens in de ruimte (1981)
*Een kwart eeuw ruimtevaart (Teleac course book, 1982)
*De mens en de computer (1983)
*Bijblijven met de nieuwe media (1983)
*Het grote hemelboek (1985),
*De mens in de kosmos (1985),
*Het robotboek (1986),
*Tros Wondere wereld woordenboek (1986)
*Space 86 (1986),
*Kunstmatige intelligentie (1987),
*Van Edison tot CD-video (1988)
*De micro-elektronica revolutie (1988),
*Toekomst in telecommunicatie (1988),
*Praktisch woordenboek nieuwe media (1989),
*Welkom in de toekomst (1990),
*Kantoor van de toekomst (1991),
*Huis van de toekomst (1992),
*Welkom in het kantoor van de toekomst (1996)
*Welkom in 2000 (1993),
*Mijn biografie (1997),
References
External links
Interview by Koen van Santvoord for the magazine CarpChriet Titulaer on Wikiquote*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Titulaer, Chriet
1943 births
2017 deaths
20th-century Dutch astronomers
Dutch technology writers
Dutch television presenters
People from Houten
People from Venlo
Utrecht University alumni
21st-century Dutch astronomers