Pieter Hendrik van Cittert (30 May 1889,

Gouda Gouda may refer to: * Gouda, South Holland, a city in the Netherlands ** Gouda (pottery), style of pottery manufactured in Gouda ** Gouda cheese, type of cheese originally made in and around Gouda ** Gouda railway station * Gouda, Western Cape, a s ...

– 8 October 1959,

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 ...

) was a Dutch physicist and science historian. He was born in

, Netherlands, to Benjamin Pieter van Cittert and Petronella Antonia Huber, and died on October 8, 1959, in

. His achievements include proving the

van Cittert–Zernike theorem The van Cittert–Zernike theorem, named after physicists Pieter Hendrik van Cittert and Frits Zernike, is a formula in coherence theory that states that under certain conditions the Fourier transform of the intensity distribution function of a ...

about the coherence of radiation and founding the University Museum in Utrecht.

Career

In 1912, Hendrik van Cittert joined the Physics Laboratory 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 ...

. In 1918, he discovered thousands of historical scientific instruments from the eighteenth-century Physics Society in

. This collection was the starting point for the University Museum, which Hendrik van Cittert founded in 1928. He was promoted in 1919. In 1921, Hendrik van Cittert and

Leonard Ornstein Leonard Salomon Ornstein (November 12, 1880 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands – May 20, 1941 in Utrecht, the Netherlands) was a Dutch physicist. Biography Ornstein studied theoretical physics with Hendrik Antoon Lorentz at University of Leid ...

were among the founders of the Dutch Physical Society (NNV). Hendrik van Cittert was a part-time teacher of physics at HOBS in Utrecht (1916–1950). He founded the Physics Laboratory in Utrecht (1922–1950) and became the first directorCabinets of Experimental Philosophy in Eighteenth-Century Europe. Edited by Jim Bennett & Sofia Talas. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2013. ISSN 1872-0684. of the University Museum of Utrecht (1951–1955).

Personal Life

Van Cittert married his colleague, the physicist

Johanna Geertruida van Cittert-Eymers Johanna Geertruida (Truus) van Cittert-Eymers was a Dutch physicist, historian of science, museum director and author. Early years Johanna Geertruida Eymers was born in Velp, in the Netherlands on 19 June 1903, the only child of teacher Johan ...

in 1938.

References

1889 births 1959 deaths 20th-century Dutch physicists Historians of science Utrecht University faculty People from Gouda, South Holland {{physicist-stub