View source for Willem 's Gravesande

{{Short description|Dutch mathematician and philosopher (1688–1742)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Willem 's Gravesande
| image             = Gravesande.jpg
| image_size        = 220px
| caption           = Willem Jacob 's Gravesande (1688–1742)
| birth_date        = 26 September 1688
| birth_place       = [['s-Hertogenbosch]], [[Duchy of Brabant]]
| death_date        = {{death-date and age|28 February 1742|26 September 1688}}
| death_place       = [[Leiden]], [[Dutch Republic]]
| citizenship       =
| nationality       = Dutch
| ethnicity         = 
| field             = Philosopher and mathematician
| work_institutions = [[Leiden University]]
| alma_mater        = Leiden University
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Johannes Voet]]
| doctoral_students = [[Pieter van Musschenbroek]], [[Jean Allamand]]<!-- <br>[[Govert du Bois]]<br>[[Johannes Oosterdijk Schacht]] to be included when they get their own wiki biography -->
| known_for         = [[kinetic energy|Experimental proof of <math>E_k \propto \begin{matrix} \end{matrix} mv^2 </math>]]
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| prizes            = 
| religion          = 
| footnotes         = 
| signature         =  
}}

'''Willem Jacob 's Gravesande''' (26 September 1688 – 28 February 1742) was a Dutch mathematician and [[Natural philosophy|natural philosopher]], chiefly remembered for developing experimental demonstrations of the laws of [[classical mechanics]] and the first experimental measurement of [[kinetic energy]].  As professor of mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy at [[Leiden University]], he helped to propagate [[Isaac Newton]]'s ideas in Continental Europe.

== Life ==
[[File:WJsGravesande.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|Portrait of Willem Jacob 's Gravesande. Etching by [[Jacobus Houbraken|J. Houbraken]], after a drawing by {{nowrap|[[Jan Wandelaar|J. Wandelaar]]}}, 1725–1750.]]

Born in [['s-Hertogenbosch]], 's Gravesande studied law at [[Leiden University]], where he defended a thesis on suicide and earned a doctorate in 1707.  He then practised law in [[The Hague]] while also participating in intellectual discussions and cultivating his interest in the mathematical sciences.  His ''Essai de perspective'' ("Essay on Perspective"), published in 1711, was praised by the influential Swiss mathematician [[Johann Bernoulli]].<ref name=Knight>[https://books.google.com/books?id=09JPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA331 Google Books] {{cite book | author=Knight, C. | title=Penny cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volumes 21–22 | year=1841 }}  Page 331. Retrieved 6 October 2009</ref> In The Hague, 's Gravesande also helped to establish the ''Journal littéraire'' ("Literary journal"), a learned periodical first published in 1713.<ref name="vanHelden">Albert van Helden, [http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/wp-content/berkelbio/15.s'gravesande.pdf "Willem Jacob 's Gravesande, 1688–1742"], in ''A History of Science in The Netherlands'', eds. K. van Berkel, A. van Helden and L. Palm, (Leiden: Brill, 1999), pp. 450–453</ref>

In 1715, 's Gravesande visited London as part of a Dutch delegation sent to welcome the [[Hanoverian succession]] in Great Britain.<ref name="vanHelden" /> In London, 's Gravesande met both [[George I of Great Britain|King George I]] and [[Isaac Newton]], and was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27sgravesande%27%29| title = Library and Archive catalogue|publisher = Royal Society|access-date = 28 February 2012}}</ref> In 1717 he became professor of [[mathematics]] and [[astronomy]] in Leiden.  From that position, he was instrumental in introducing Newton's work to the Netherlands.  He also obtained the chairs of civil and military architecture in 1730 and philosophy in 1734.<ref name="vanHelden" /> As a philosopher, he opposed [[Fatalism|fatalists]] like [[Thomas Hobbes|Hobbes]] and [[Baruch Spinoza|Spinoza]].

's Gravesande was married to Anna Sacrelaire in 1720.  They had two sons, both of whom died in adolescence.  In 1724, [[Peter the Great]] offered 's Gravesande a position in the new [[Russian Academy of Sciences|Imperial Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences]].  In 1737 he received an offer from [[Frederick the Great]] to join the [[Prussian Academy of Sciences]] in Berlin.  He declined both offers, opting to remain in Leiden.<ref name="vanHelden" />

== Mechanics ==
[[File:Gravesande-2.jpg|thumb|285x285px|Title page of a 1747 copy of vol. 1 of Gravesande's "''Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy''"]]
Gravesande's main scientific work is ''Physices elementa mathematica, experimentis confirmata, sive introductio ad philosophiam Newtonianam'' ("Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy, Confirmed by Experiments; or, an Introduction to Newtonian Philosophy"), published in Leiden in 1720.  In that book, he laid the foundations for the teaching of Newtonian mechanics through experimental demonstrations. He presented his work before audiences that included [[Voltaire]], [[Albrecht von Haller]], and [[Émilie du Châtelet]] (the translator of Newton's Principia whose later commentary incorporated 's Gravesande's 1722 experimental discovery of [[kinetic energy]]). 's Gravesande's book was soon translated into English by [[John Theophilus Desaguliers]], curator of experiments for the Royal Society.<ref>[http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/library/newton/desaguliers.html "John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1744): popularising Newton"], ''Isaac Newton and Newtonianism'', Whipple Library, University of Cambridge</ref>

In 1721, 's Gravesande became involved in a public controversy over whether the German inventor [[Johann Bessler]], known as Councillor Orffyreus, had created a genuine [[perpetual motion]] machine. 's Gravesande at first argued for the feasibility of perpetual motion based on the conservation of the scalar quantity ''mv'' ([[mass]] multiplied by [[speed]]), which he erroneously believed was implied by Newtonian mechanics.<ref name="Jenkins">{{Cite journal | last1 = Jenkins | first1 = Alejandro | title = The mechanical career of Councillor Orffyreus, confidence man | doi = 10.1119/1.4798617 | journal = American Journal of Physics | volume = 81 | issue = 6 | pages = 421–427 | year = 2013 | arxiv = 1301.3097| bibcode = 2013AmJPh..81..421J | s2cid = 118678318 | author-link = Alejandro Jenkins}}</ref> However, in 1722 he published the results of a series of experiments in which brass balls were dropped from varying heights onto a soft clay surface.  He found that two balls of the same size and different masses would make identical indentations when the heights they were dropped from were inversely proportional to their masses, from which he concluded that the correct expression for the "live force" of a body in motion (currently called "[[kinetic energy]]") is proportional to ''mv''<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="Iltis">{{Cite journal | last1 = Iltis | first1 = Carolyn | title = The Leibnizian-Newtonian Debates: Natural Philosophy and Social Psychology | doi = 10.1017/S000708740001253X | journal = The British Journal for the History of Science | volume = 6 | issue = 4 | pages = 343–377 | year = 2009 | s2cid = 144194873 |author-link= Carolyn Merchant}}</ref><ref name="Jenkins" />

Even though those results invalidated his original argument for the feasibility of perpetual motion, 's Gravesande continued to defend Bessler's work, claiming that Bessler might have discovered some new "active principle" of nature that allowed his wheels to keep turning.  Similar views were defended at the time by [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]], Johann Bernoulli, and others, but the modern consensus is that Bessler was perpetrating a deliberate hoax.<ref name="Jenkins" /> Russian Tsar [[Peter the Great]] was interested in Bessler's wheel and sought 's Gravesande's advice on the subject.<ref name="Werrett">{{Cite journal | last1 = Werrett | first1 = Simon | doi = 10.1086/657265 | title = The Schumacher Affair: Reconfiguring Academic Expertise across Dynasties in Eighteenth-Century Russia | journal = Osiris | volume = 25 | pages = 104–126 | year = 2010 | s2cid = 145788508 }}</ref>

's Gravesande communicated his results on the impact of falling weights to Émilie du Châtelet.  Similar observations were published in 1718 by [[Giovanni Poleni]].  The interpretation of 's Gravesande's and Poleni's results led to a controversy with [[Samuel Clarke]] and other Newtonians that became a part of the so-called "[[Vis viva|''vis viva'' dispute]]" in the history of [[classical mechanics]].<ref name="Iltis"/>

=='s Gravesande's ring==
[[File:Gravesande ring.png|thumb|180px|The ring of 's Gravesande]]

's Gravesande is also remembered for his invention of a simple experiment demonstrating [[thermal expansion]], which has been used in physics education since.  This is known today as "'s Gravesande's experiment" or "'s Gravesande's ring".  The apparatus consists of a small metal ball on a chain or handle, and a metal ring on a stand.  The ring is just big enough so that when the ring and ball are at the same temperature, the ball fits through the ring.  However, if the ball is heated by dipping it into boiling water or playing the flame of a spirit lamp over it, the metal will expand, and the ball will no longer fit through the ring.  When the ball has cooled down, it will fit through the ring again. This is 's Gravesande's own description of his experiment, under the heading ''"Of the Dilatation arising from Heat"'':<ref>{{Cite book |last='s Gravesande |first=Willem Jacob |url=https://archive.org/details/mathematicalelem02grav/page/67 |title=Mathematical elements of natural philosophy, confirm'd by experiments: Or, An introduction to Sir Isaac Newton's philosophy |date= |publisher=J. T. Desaguliers |others= |year=1747 |edition=6th |volume=2 |pages=67 |translator-last=Desaguliers |translator-first=J. T. |orig-date=1719-20}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=The Aperture of the Copper Ring ... is circular, and it's Diameter is an Inch and an half; and this is the Diameter of the solid Ball ..., which is made of the fame Metal; this can pass through the Aperture, without leaving any sensible Interstice. When the Globe is heated it is sustained by the Ring, in whatever Position it is laid; which Experiment alone shews that Bodies dilate every Way [in every dimension?].}}

== Works ==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=ipQ5AAAAcAAJ ''Essai de perspective''], 1711
* [http://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ECHOdocuView/ECHOzogiLib?mode=imagepath&url=/mpiwg/online/permanent/library/56ZDQHSF/pageimg ''Philosophiae Newtonianae Institutiones, in usus academicos''], 1723
* [http://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ECHOdocuView/ECHOzogiLib?mode=imagepath&url=/mpiwg/online/permanent/library/N1TU6UZF/pageimg ''An essay on perspective''], 1724
* ''[https://libserv.aip.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1663012000ND5.74106&profile=rev-all&source=~!horizon&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100006~!44147~!3&ri=12&aspect=subtab232&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Gravesande,+Willem+Jacob+%27s,+1688-1742.&index=PAUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=subtab232&menu=search&ri=12 Mathematical elements of physicks, prov'd by experiments : being an introduction to Sir Isaac Newton's philosophy]'', 1720
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=JOUTAAAAQAAJ ''Introductio ad Philosophiam, Metaphysicam et Logicam''], 1736
* [https://archive.org/details/mathematicalelem01grav ''Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy, Confirm'd by Experiments: or, An introduction to Sir Isaac Newton's philosophy (Volume I)''], 1747 (first printed in 1720)
* [https://archive.org/details/mathematicalelem02grav ''Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy, Confirm'd by Experiments: or, An introduction to Sir Isaac Newton's philosophy (Volume II)''], 1747 (first printed in 1721)
* [http://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ECHOdocuView/ECHOzogiLib?mode=imagepath&url=/mpiwg/online/permanent/library/W7KYZCD7/pageimg ''Oeuvres Philosophiques et Mathématiques de Mr. G. J. 'sGravesande''], ed. with memoir by J. Allamand, 1774
<gallery>
File:Gravesande-7.jpg|1720 copy of Gravesande's "''Mathematical Elements of Physicks, Prov’d by Experiments''"
File:Gravesande-8.jpg|Title page of "''Mathematical Elements of Physicks, Prov’d by Experiments''"
File:Gravesande-9.jpg|Preface to "''Mathematical Elements of Physicks, Prov’d by Experiments''"
File:Gravesande-10.jpg|Table from "''Mathematical Elements of Physicks, Prov’d by Experiments''"
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[9682 Gravesande]], main-belt asteroid named after Willem Jacob Gravesande

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* A. R. Hall, {{"'}}s Gravesande, Willem Jacob", in ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'', vol. V, (New York: 1972), pp.&nbsp;509–11.
* C. de Pater, "Experimental Physics", in ''Leiden University in the Seventeenth Century, An Exchange of Learning'' (Leiden: 1975), pp.&nbsp;308–327.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Willem 's Gravesande}}
* [http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/libraries/rare/modernity/gravesande.html Natural philosophy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303101357/http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/libraries/rare/modernity/gravesande.html |date=3 March 2007 }}
* [http://www.hp-gramatke.net/perpetuum/english/page0060.htm 's Gravesande's mistaken belief in perpetuum mobile]
* [http://www.nypl.org/research/newton/ref/ps_sibl_cd33_540.html 's Gravesande's New York Public Library entry]
* {{MathGenealogy|112568}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id= SGravesande}}
* [http://www.luikerwaal.com/newframe_uk.htm?/oudste_uk.htm ''The Oldest Magic Lantern in the World'']
* [https://get.google.com/albumarchive/111781794322929874337 Presentations of Willem 's Gravesande's Lectures, Devices, Laboratory and Experiments]
* [http://www.lorentz.leidenuniv.nl/IL-publications/dissertations/gravesande.html List of Ph.D. students] of Willem 's Gravesande

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gravesande, Willem S}}
[[Category:1688 births]]
[[Category:1742 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Dutch physicists]]
[[Category:18th-century Dutch mathematicians]]
[[Category:People from 's-Hertogenbosch]]
[[Category:Leiden University alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Leiden University]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society|sGravesande]]