John Dalton shaking hands with Gerrit Moll 1834 Wellcome V0006734

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

Life

From a family background in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

of commerce, Moll was drawn towards science. His teacher at the

Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam Athenaeum Illustre, or Amsterdamse Atheneum, was a city-sponsored 'illustrious school' founded after the beeldenstorm in the old ''Agnieten'' chapel on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal 231 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Famous scientists such as Caspar Barlae ...

was Jean Henri van Swinden. He took up astronomy with Jan Frederik Keijser in 1801. In 1809 he was awarded a Candidaat degree by Leiden University; and in 1810 he went to Paris, where he studied under Delambre. Moll is noted for his later animus against "Napoleonic science", the tradition of the revolutionary period in France. 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). He became member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands in 1815. During the "declinist" controversy in British science around 1830, Moll spoke in praise of the British tradition, against the trend of increasing professionalisation. A friend of

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...

and

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

, 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). In relation to claims that French scientists had tried to diminish the impact of Davy's work, Moll relayed unfounded allegations to Faraday. Moll died of

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...

on 17 January 1838.

Works

Moll developed the electromagnet of

William Sturgeon William Sturgeon (22 May 1783 – 4 December 1850) was an English physicist and inventor who made the first electromagnets, and invented the first practical British electric motor. Early life Sturgeon was born on 22 May 1783 in Whittington, ...

, publishing with priority over Joseph Henry.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moll, Gerard 1785 births 1838 deaths 19th-century Dutch philosophers Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Scientists from Amsterdam 19th-century Dutch astronomers