Jean Abraham Chrétien Oudemans
Jean Abraham Chrétien Oudemans ( born December 16, 1827 in Amsterdam, † December 14, 1906 in Utrecht ) was a Dutch astronomer.
Youth and Education
Oudemans was born as the son of the poet, teacher and philologist Anthonie Oudemans senior; his older brother was the botanist Antoine Corneille Jean Abraham Oudemans. Even as a 16- year-old he began to study at the University of Leiden in the known astronomer Frederik Kaiser. Three years later (1846 ) he became professor in Leiden. The next six years he worked on his dissertation on the determination of the latitude of Leiden. He then studied asteroids and variable stars, while he waited for an academic position.
Professional career
In 1856 he was appointed as associate professor at the University of Utrecht and was first director of the observatory. But his research interests were also of geography. In 1857, he traveled as a chief engineer and head of the geographic service according to the Dutch East Indies, where he worked for 18 years and extensive geodetic operations initiated. He published his work on the triangulation of the island of Java in six volumes.
On December 9, 1874 under difficult weather conditions, he observed and his expedition members from the island of Réunion in the transit of Venus. From 1875 until his retirement in 1898 he was again professor of astronomy and director of the observatory at the University of Utrecht. In 1889 he published a star map. In 1889/90 he served as rector of the university. Besides a number of geodetic and astronomical treatises he published the 4th edition of the emperor 's popular work, De Sterrenhemel ( Deventer 1884-88 ).
In 1898, he joined the legal retirement, but worked until his death continue to astronomical and biographical subjects.
Private life
In 1856 he married Pauline Adriana Verdam daughter of a well-known professor of mathematics. One of his sons, Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans, was one of the founders of cryptozoology.
Honor
The Oudemans crater on Mars was named in his honor.