Anton Pannekoek
Anton Pannekoek | |
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Born | Antonie Pannekoek 2 January 1873 Vaassen, Netherlands |
Died | 28 April 1960 Wageningen, Netherlands | (aged 87)
Nationality | Dutch |
Alma mater | Leiden University |
Known for | Council communism, Astrophysics of stellar atmospheres, Milky Way drawings |
Awards | Honorary doctorate from Harvard University (1936), Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1953) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy, socialism |
Institutions | Leiden University, University of Amsterdam |
Doctoral advisor | H. G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen |
Doctoral students | J. J. M. Reesinck, N. W. Doorn, Sijtze Verweij, Gale Bruno van Albada, Theodore Walraven, Johan Weenen, David Koelbloed |
Other notable students | Gijsbert van Herk, Elsa van Dien |
Antonie “Anton” Pannekoek (Dutch:
Early life
Anton was born 2 January 1873 in
Biography
Pannekoek studied
After reading
Pannekoek was on holiday in the Netherlands when the
Astronomy
Pannekoek began systematically observing the night sky and recording these observations while he was still in secondary school. Some of his observations of
Another early interest of Pannekoek was the
Pannekoek's research on the appearance of the Milky Way was closely connected to his research on the structure of the galaxy. In this research, he adapted the statistical methods of Jacobus Kapteyn to investigate individual clusters in the galaxy. His most important results were the measurement of the distance to the star clusters responsible for the Milky Way clouds in Cygnus and Aquila. He determined that these were located at a distance of 40000-60000 parsec from the sun. This was much more distant than was commonly assumed to be the diameter of the entire galactic system. This result provided early evidence for Harlow Shapley's expanded galaxy.[14]
The final decades of his professional career Pannekoek mostly spent on researching the astrophysics of stellar atmospheres. In his theoretical research, Pannekoek explored ways to expand upon Meghnad Saha's ionization formula to better understand the physical conditions in the outer layer of stars. One of his main conclusions was that the narrow spectral lines in c-type stars, as found by Antonia Maury, were most likely caused by lower pressure in the stellar atmospheres.[15] In the 1930s, he developed theoretical models for the atmospheres in order to reproduce the entire spectrum of a star, but failed to produce a model that was entirely satisfactory. In 1935, Rupert Wildt showed that this was because Pannekoek had underestimated the impact of the H− ion as a source of optical opacity.[16]
In observational astrophysics, Pannekoek produced the curve of growth for Deneb in 1931, the first for a star other than the sun.[17] He and his students also published comprehensive catalogues of the spectral lines in late type stars based on photographic plates taken by Pannekoek at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in 1929.[18] Because of these studies, he is considered to be the founder of astrophysics as a separate discipline in the Netherlands.[19]
Pannekoek was also part of scientific expeditions to observe solar eclipses in Java and Lapland.[20] He was also interested in the history of astronomy and his book, A History of Astronomy, is considered a standard reference on the subject.[21]
Pannekoek became member of the
Thought
Council communism
Part of a series on |
Left communism |
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Part of a series on |
Libertarian socialism |
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A recognized Marxist theorist, Pannekoek was one of the founders of
Pannekoek was best known for his writing on
Pannekoek was a sharp critic of anarchism, social democracy, and Vladimir Lenin and Leninism. During the early years of the Russian revolution, Pannekoek gave critical support to the Bolsheviks, a position shared by fellow council communist Herman Gorter. He expressed misgivings about the authoritarian tendencies of Leninism, fearing for the socialist character of the Russian Revolution unless it should find a rectifying support in a proletarian revolution in the West. His later analysis of the failure of the Russian revolution was that after Lenin and the Bolsheviks came to power, they crippled the soviets. Instead of workers' councils, the Bolsheviks had instituted the rule of their party, which in Pannekoek's view is what led to the institution of the Bolsheviks as a new ruling class.[27] He put his views forward in his 1938 book Lenin als Philosoph, originally published in German under the pseudonym J. Harper. It was translated into English in 1948 as Lenin as philosopher - a critical examination of the philosophical basis of Leninism.
Marxism and Darwinism
In a pamphlet Pannekoek strongly attacked and rebutted the arguments of Social Darwinists such as Herbert Spencer, whom Pannekoek dubbed "Bourgeois Darwinists".
On the basis of Darwin's own writings—in particular on The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871)—Pannekoek stated:
Their claim [of the Bourgeois Darwinists] is that the extermination of the weak is natural and that it is necessary in order to prevent the corruption of the race, and that the protection given to the weak serves to deteriorate the race. But what do we see? In nature itself, in the animal world, we find that the weak are protected; that it is not by their own personal strength that they maintain themselves, and that they are not brushed aside on account of their personal weakness. This arrangement does not weaken the group, but gives to it new strength. The animal group in which mutual aid is best developed is best fit to maintain itself in the strife.
— Anton Pannekoek, Darwinism and Marxism, p. 39[28]
Works
Scientific writings
- Untersuchungen über den Lichtwechsel Algols (1902)[11]
- De wonderbouw der wereld - de grondslagen van ons sterrekundig wereldbeeld populair uiteengezet (1916, 1920, 1924)[29]
- De astrologie en hare beteekenis voor de ontwikkeling der sterrekunde (1916)
- The distance of the Milky Way (1919)
- Die nördliche Milchstrasse (1920)
- Ionization in stellar atmospheres (1922)
- De astrophysica en hare moderne ontwikkeling (1925)
- Results of observations of the total solar eclipse of June 29, 1927 - 1: Photometry of the flash spectrum (1928) with Marcel Minnaert
- Results of observations of the total solar eclipse of June 29, 1927 - 2: Photometry of the chromosphere and the corona (1930) with N.W. Doorn
- The influence of collisions on the formation of the Fraunhofer lines (1931)
- The theoretical intensities of absorption lines in stellar spectra (1935)
- Antropogenese. Een studie over het ontstaan van de mens (1944)
- Photographic photometry of the southern Milky Way (1949); with David Koelbloed
- Line intensities in spectra of advanced type (1950)
- English: Anthropogenesis: A study of the origin of man (1953)
- De groei van ons wereldbeeld - een geschiedenis van de sterrekunde (1951)
- English: A History of Astronomy (1961)
Political and philosophical writings
- Ethik und Sozialismus - Umwälzungen im Zukunftsstaat (1906)
- Religion und Sozialismus - ein Vortrag (1906)
- Godsdienst en socialisme - voordracht, op 14 September 1905 te Bremen gehouden (1907)
- Ethiek en socialisme (1907)
- Marxisme en revisionisme (1907); with Herman Gorter
- Omwentelingen in den toekomststaat (1907)
- Der Kampf der Arbeiter : sieben Aufsaetze aus der Leipziger Volkszeitung (1907)
- Het marxisme / pro: A. Pannekoek, contra: M.W.F. Treub (1908); with Marie Willem Frederik Treub
- Darwinisme en marxisme (1909)
- Die taktischen Differenzen in der Arbeiterbewegung (1909)
- Uit de voorgeschiedenis van den wereldoorlog (1915)
- De oorlog : zijn oorsprong en zijn bestrijding (ca. 1915)
- "The Third International," International Socialist Review, vol. 17, no. 7 (January 1917), pp. 460–462.
- Lenin als Philosoph(1938) pseud.: J. Harper
- English: Lenin as Philosopher: A Critical Examination of the Philosophical Basis of Leninism. (1948)
- Dutch: Lenin als filosoof. Een kritische beschouwing over de filosofische grondslagen van het Leninisme (1973)
- De arbeidersraden (1946) pseud.: P. Aartsz
- English: Workers' Councils(1947)
Notes
- ^ van den Heuvel 2019, p. 26-7.
- ^ Tai 2017, pp. 207–208.
- ^ Gerber 1989, p. 210.
- ^ Baneke 2010, pp. 169–170.
- ^ Jacobs 1978, pp. 183.
- ^ Gerber 1989, pp. 117–127.
- ^ Tai 2017, pp. 211.
- ^ Baneke 2019, pp. 91–97.
- ^ van den Heuvel 2019, pp. 40–46.
- ^ van den Heuvel 2019, pp. 29. Pannekoek first published his suspicions on the variability of Polaris as a footnote in 1906 (Pannekoek 1906, p. 148). His observations were published in 1913 (Pannekoek 1913)
- ^ a b Pannekoek 1902.
- ^ Tai 2019, pp. 222–234.
- ^ Tai 2019, pp. 234–241.
- ^ Tai 2017, pp. 235–236, Tai & van Dongen 2016, pp. 61–66.
- ^ Smith 2019, pp. 119–122, Tai 2021, pp. 137–144.
- ^ Tai 2021, pp. 151–166.
- ^ Hearnshaw 2014, pp. 145–146.
- ^ Tai 2021, pp. 166–175.
- ^ Minnaert 2008.
- ^ Tai 2021, pp. 148–150.
- ^ Tai 2021, pp. 230.
- ^ KNAW 2015.
- ^ van den Heuvel 2019, pp. 45–46.
- ^ van den Heuvel 1982.
- ^ Gerber 1989.
- ^ Gerber 1989, pp. 178–187.
- ^ Voerman 2019, pp. 61–68.
- ^ Pannekoek 1912.
- ^ Pannekoek 1920.
References
- Baneke, David (2019). "Pannekoek's One Revolution: Anton Pannekoek and the Modernization of the Dutch Astronomical Community". In Tai, Chaokang; van der Steen, Bart; van Dongen, Jeroen (eds.). Anton Pannekoek: Ways of Viewing Science and Society. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 87–108. ISBN 9789462984349.
- Baneke, David (2010). "Teach and Travel: Leiden Observatory and the Renaissance of Dutch Astronomy in the Interwar Years". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 41 (2): 167–198. S2CID 115466586.
- Kluwer Academic Publishers.
- Hearnshaw, John B. (2014). The Analysis of Starlight: Two Centuries of Astronomical Spectroscopy. Cambridge University Press.
- Jacobs, Nicholas (1978). "The German Social Democratic Party School in Berlin, 1906-1914". History Workshop History Workshop. 5 (5): 179–187. JSTOR 4288169– via JSTOR.
- "Anton Pannekoek (1873 - 1960)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- Minnaert, Marcel (2008). "Pannekoek, Antonie". In Gillispie, Charles C. (ed.). Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 289–291.
- Pannekoek, Anton (1902). Untersuchungen über den Lichtwechsel Algols (Ph.D. Thesis). Leiden University – via Delpher.
- Pannekoek, Anton (1906). "The luminosity of stars of different types of spectrum". Proceedings of the Section of Science, Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen. 9 (2): 1192–1199. Bibcode:1906KNAB....9..134P– via KNAW Digital Library.
- Pannekoek, Anton (1912). Marxism And Darwinism – via AAAP.be.
- Pannekoek, Anton (1913). "The variability of the Pole-star". Proceedings of the Section of Science, Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen. 15 (1): 134–148 – via KNAW Digital Library.
- Pannekoek, Anton (1920). De wonderbouw der wereld. De grondslagen van ons sterrekundig wereldbeeld popular uiteengezet (second ed.). Amsterdam: S.L. van Looy – via Project Gutenberg.
- Schurer, H. (1963). "Anton Pannekoek and the Origins of Leninism". Slavonic and East European Review. 41 (97): 327–344. JSTOR 4205465– via JSTOR.
- Smith, Robert W. (2019). "Astronomy in the Time of Pannekoek and Pannekoek as an Astronomer of his Times". In Tai, Chaokang; van der Streen, Bart; van Dongen, Jeroen (eds.). Anton Pannekoek: Ways of Viewing Science and Society. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 109–136. ISBN 9789462984349.
- Tai, Chaokang (2017). "Left Radicalism and the Milky Way: Connecting the Scientific and Socialist Virtues of Anton Pannekoek". Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences. 47 (2): 200–254. doi:10.17613/M6M259– via Humanities Commons.
- Tai, Chaokang (2019). "The Milky Way as Optical Phenomenon: Perception and Photography in the Drawings of Anton Pannekoek". In Tai, Chaokang; van der Streen, Bart; van Dongen, Jeroen (eds.). Anton Pannekoek: Ways of Viewing Science and Society. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 219–247. ISBN 9789462984349.
- Tai, Chaokang (2021). Anton Pannekoek, Marxist Astronomer: Photography, Epistemic Virtues, and Political Philosophy in Early-Twentieth Century Astronomy (Ph.D. Thesis). University of Amsterdam. .
- Tai, Chaokang; van Dongen, Jeroen (2016). "Anton Pannekoek's Epistemic Virtues in Astronomy and Socialism: Personae and the Practice of Science". BMGN: Low Countries Historical Review. 131 (4): 55–70. .
- van den Heuvel, Edward (22 May 1982). "Pannekoeks passie voor sterrenkunde en socialisme". NRC Handelsblad – via Delpher.
- ISBN 9789462984349.
- Voerman, Gerrit (2019). "Anton Pannekoek: A 'Principled Theorist'". In Tai, Chaokang; van der Streen, Bart; van Dongen, Jeroen (eds.). Anton Pannekoek: Ways of Viewing Science and Society. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 51–74. ISBN 9789462984349.
External links
- Media related to Anton Pannekoek at Wikimedia Commons
- Quotations related to Anton Pannekoek at Wikiquote
- Antonie Pannekoek Archives - Comprehensive collection of digitized socialist and scientific articles and books by Pannekoek
- K. van Berkel, "Pannekoek, Antonie (1873-1960)", in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland.
- Chaokang Tai, Bart van der Steen, and Jeroen van Dongen (eds.), Anton Pannekoek: Ways of Viewing Science and Society. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019.
- Anton Pannekoek texts at Libertarian Communist Library
- RevoltLib Anton Pannekoek Archive at Revoltlib.com
- Anton Pannekoek Archive of his political writings at Marxists Internet Archive
- Exchange of letters between Cornelius Castoriadis and Anton Pannekoek, originally published in Socialisme ou Barbarie, translated and introduced by Viewpoint Magazine.
- Anton Pannekoek and the Quest For an Emancipatory Socialism
- Anton Pannekoek Astronomical Institute Archived 2017-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
- Fintan Lane, Contradicting the Bolsheviks: Anton Pannekoek and European Marxism