Prof.dr.ir. F.j. Dijksterhuis (fokko Jan

Biography

Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis is Associate Professor of History of Science at the Centre for Studies of Science and Technology. He studied applied mathematics and science studies and has worked as a teacher of mathematics and social science at secondary level. In 1999 he finished his dissertation on the history of optics in the seventeenth century, focusing on the work of Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695): Lenses and Waves. Christiaan Huygens and the Mathematical Science of Optics in the Seventeenth Century (Kluwer 2004). In 2006 he received an NWO VIDI grant for a five year research project The Uses of Mathematics in the Dutch Republic. The project runs from 2007 to 2012 and includes two PhDs.

Research Interest

The research interests of Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis focus upon the cultural history of early modern science and technology and the way spatial and cultural interactions give shape to knowledge practices. He is particularly interested in the North-European cross-boundary knowledge sphere and the interactions between various socio-cultural groups like scientists, technologists, entrepreneurs, artists. Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis early research focused on the history of early modern optics, investigating the intersections between mathematics, physics and instruments in the seventeenth century. He made a detailed reconstruction of the origin of Huygens’ principle of wave propagation. He has an ongoing specific interest in matters of light, exploring new perspectives on early modern optics. Recently he was consulted by Nature for an article on the rediscovery of diagrams of the halos observed by Scheiner. In 2010 Katrien Vanagt defended her thesis on Plempius’ Ophthalmographia and early modern medical ideas about seeing (De emancipatie van het oog: V.F. Plempius’ Ophthalmographia en vroegmoderne medische denkbeelden over het zien.). The project The Uses of Mathematics in the Dutch Republic aims at developing a cultural historical perspective on mathematization in early modern science and technology and the ways mathematical thinking have become dominant in western society. The two PhDs finish their dissertation in the Fall of 2012: Arjen Dijkstra, Between academics and idiots. A cultural history of early modern mathematics in the Dutch Province of Friesland. (September 2012) Tim Nicolaije, Mathematics Teachers in late 17th-century Amsterdam. (End 2012). Arjen Dijkstra recently made a wonderful documentary on the life of the talented scholar David Gorlaeus (1591-1612). (online, Frisian spoken, Dutch subtitles) Besides his research on the early modern history of science and technology, he has written a history of NRLO, the Dutch Council for Agricultural Research. He has been involved in the training of teachers at secondary level for Science for Public Understanding and is co-author of a secondary level mathematics textbook.