Martin van Marum

Martinus van Marum ( born March 20, 1750 in Delft, † December 26 1837 in Haarlem ) was a Dutch physician, naturalist, chemist and scientist. Van Marum was the first managing director of the Teylers Museum and under his supervision at the time the largest electrostatic generator was built.

Life and work

Youth and Family

Martinus van Marum was born in 1750 in Delft, the son of Petrus van Marum and Cornelia van Oudheusden. His father earned his doctorate in 1736 at the University of Groningen as a surveying engineer, agronomist and engineer. Peter moved to Delft and married Cornelia in 1744. Ten years later he bought in Delft porcelain factory De Romein ( the Roman ) and worked there as a master distiller. Martin attended the Latin School in Delft. In 1764, De Romein was sold and the family moved back to Groningen.

Groningen

Martinus van Marum From 1764 studied at the University of Groningen, particularly physiology and philosophy. Under his teacher Peter Camper, he was particularly interested in botany. He received his doctorate in 1773 for Dr. phil. with a dissertation on plant movements and their juice flows. The promotion also governor William V was present. Later in the same year received his doctorate Van Marum also to the medical doctor.

In 1773 Camper resigned as professor of botany. After the van Marum University then went over and instead Wynoldus Munniks appointed professor, van Marum returned botany his back and was dedicated to the electrostatics. Together with his friend, the instrument maker Gerhard van Marum Kuyper built an electrostatic generator that can operate in a vacuum. Publish the results of 1776 in " Verhandeling over het electrizeeren " (Treatise on the electrifying ).

Physician and scientist

From 1776 to 1780 he was a doctor in Haarlem. Although he could earn more in another city, he chose Haarlem because of the intellectual life and the societies of the city. Van Marum was not only a doctor but also held physics and mathematics lectures and instruments designed to demonstrate physical theories. He was appointed director of her curiosity cabinet member of the Dutch Society of Sciences and in 1777 by Pieter Teyler van der Hulst († 1778), which included a collection of stuffed animals.

Van Marum's interest in science and in particular of gases was significantly later than in 1778, when he won the first contest of the Teylers Tweede Genootschap ( Teylers second company ) with a gold medal. The title of his dissertation was " Gephlogisteerde s gedephlogisteerde Luchten " where he described his results and stated that at an electric discharge in a dense crowd of atmospheric air no volume change occurs. The following year, Van Marum was a member of the company ( with only six members ) to succeed Cornelis Elout. From 1804 until his death he was himself chairman.

Family

In 1782, he married Joanna Bosch ( 1739-1821 ), the rich and only daughter of Jan Bosch (1713 - 1780) and Catharine Blauuwduyf. Van Marum she knew from his position as a practitioner of the Bosch family. The marriage remained childless and 1821 Joanna died. Eight years after the death of Joanna gave birth to his housekeeper Josina Keer an illegitimate child, which she named Martinus.

Managing Teylers Museum

In 1784, Van Marum was appointed the first director of a new department of Teylers Stichting: Teyler 's Physical en Naturaliën cabinets en Bibliotheek ( Teyler 's cabinets of physics and natural history and library). Under his leadership the Teylers Museum was founded in Haarlem.

John Cuthbertson constructed him that time was largest electrostatic generator for his experiments to discover the secrets of electricity along the track. Marum was guided by Benjamin Franklin. However, the high voltages prevented rather new insights. He noted in his experiments a pungent smell ( ozone ). The Electrostat was crowd favorite of Teylers Museum. Furthermore, Marum dealt with lightning conductors, plant breeding, production cheaper food for the poor, with the problems of air pollution and ventilation of factories. Van Marum also produced even many physical and scientific instruments for others. King George II of Great Britain ordered many instruments with him.

Van Marum also had interest in paleontology, mineralogy and geology. So he acquired a skeleton of a mosasaur, which had been found in Limburg and he secured for Teylers Museum. In 1803 Van Marum was directed back to the botany. This was mainly due to a dispute with Adriaan van Zeebergh, one of the five directors of the Teylers Stichting. Van Zeebergh had reached that Teylers Stichting spent more on charity and less on scientific collections. Van Marum employed in his country house "Plant Lust" at the Spaarne intensively with the breeding of mostly exotic plants.

Recognition

In 1783 Van Marum was appointed as a corresponding member of the prestigious French Academy of Sciences, and in 1789 as a member of the British Royal Society. From 1790 to 1808 he was a member of the Nederlandse Vereniging van Chemici ( Dutch association of chemists ) and from 1794 until his death in Van Marum was the successor of Christianus van der Aa ( 1718-1793 ) Secretary of the Dutch Maatschappij the Wetenschappen ( Dutch Society of sciences). With its clock and its compounds, he led the Haarlem collections without damage by revolutions and the French Republic. When the monarchy was restored 1814-1816, he participated in the establishment of the Koninklijk Instituut van Wetenschappen, Letteren en Kunsten Skåne, a precursor of today's Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen.

Works

• Description d'une très grande - machine electric, Placee dans le muséum de Teyler à Harlem, et faites par le moyen of expériences de cette machine. 1785
• Op te geeven the best toestel van den electrophore. 1783
• Expériences concernant quelques météores électrique. 1787 in the Journal de physique
• Sur la cause de l' Electricité et refroidies of substances fondues. 1788 Adriaan van Pats Troostwyk ( 1752-1837 ) in the Journal de physique
• Description of frottoirs électriques d'une nouveau construction. 1791
• Lettre à Mr. Volta concernant la colonne the expériences sur électrique faites par lui et le prof. Pfaff dans le laboratoire de Teyler. 1801