Johan Maurits Mohr

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mohr observatory in Batavia (Dutch East Indies).

Johan Maurits Mohr (ca. 18 August 1716,

vulcanology
.

In 1765 Mohr built a

large private observatory in Batavia that was equipped with the best astronomical instruments of his time.[1] His observatory, which had cost him a small fortune, was visited and praised by Louis Antoine de Bougainville and James Cook
.

Mohr observed the Venus transits of 6 June 1761 and 3 June 1769 and the Mercury transit of 10 November 1769. He also made meteorological observations and measurements of the magnetic declination at Batavia.

After Mohr's death, his observatory was damaged by an earthquake in 1780, fell into ruin and was demolished in 1812.[1]

The minor planet

5494 Johanmohr
is named in his honour.

Mohr's observatory from Batavia's Chinese temple.

References

  1. ^ a b Steven van Roode. "The Transit of Venus". Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  • H.J. Zuidervaart & R.H. van Gent, " "A Bare Outpost of Learned European Culture on the Edge of the Jungles of Java": Johan Maurits Mohr (1716-1775) and the Emergence of Instrumental and Institutional Science in Dutch Colonial Indonesia", Isis: An International Review devoted to the History of Science and its Cultural Influences, 95 (2004), 1-33.

See also

  • List of colonial buildings and structures in Jakarta