Martin van den Hove

Maarten van den Hove, Latinized Martinus Hortensius, even Ortensius and Martin van den Hove, (* 1605 in Delft; † August 7, 1639 in Leiden ) was a Dutch astronomer.

Life

Hortensius studied from 1625 to 1627 at Willibrord van Roijen Snell and Isaac Beeckman at Leiden University. From 1628 he was assistant Johan Philip Lansberg ( brokered by Beeckman ) in Middelburg and helped to complete several of his astronomical works.

In the preface to his Latin translation for a popular exposition of the Copernican system, he pointed out the observations of Lansberg against Tycho Brahe. From 1634 he was professor of mathematics at the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam. His inaugural lecture was about the dignity and usefulness of mathematics. He also lectured on optics ( 1635) and navigation, taught the Copernican theory and was a member of a commission that negotiated with Galileo Galilei in 1638 on the use of Jupiter's moons for longitude determination. 1639, he became a professor at the University of Leiden, but died shortly afterwards.

He corresponded with eminent scientists of his time as Galilei, René Descartes, Marin Mersenne, Pierre Gassendi, Christiaan Huygens, William Nicolas -Claude Fabri Schickard and de Peiresc.

He also dealt with the size of planets from astronomical observations dissipation.

The lunar crater Hortensius is named after him.