Pieter Rijke

Pieter Rijke
Born
Petrus Leonardus Rijke

(1812-07-11)11 July 1812
Died7 April 1899(1899-04-07) (aged 86)
Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands
Alma materLeiden University (PhD)
Known forRijke tube (1859)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsLeiden University (1845–82)
ThesisDe origine electricitatis voltaicae (1836)
Doctoral advisorPieter Uijlenbroek
Doctoral students

Petrus "Pieter" Leonardus Rijke (Dutch: [ˈrɛi̯kə] ; 11 July 1812 – 7 April 1899) was a Dutch physicist who was Professor in Experimental physics at Leiden University. He spent his scientific career exploring the physics of electricity, and is known for the Rijke tube.

Education

Petrus Leonardus Rijke was born on 11 July 1812 in Hemmen, the son of Dirk Rijke, a pastor, and Elisabeth Pieternella Beausar.

From 1830, Rijke studied physics under Pieter Johannes Uijlenbroek at Leiden University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1836. His thesis titled De origine electricitatis voltaicae (On the origin of voltaic electricity).[2]

Career

In 1835, Rijke was appointed Professor of Physics at the Royal Athenaeum in Maastricht. In 1845, he became an extraordinary professor, and in 1854 was promoted to Full Professor of Physics at Leiden University. There, he started a physics laboratory with a large collection of scientific instruments. His most notable students were Hendrik Lorentz and Johannes van der Waals, who would win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1902 and 1910, respectively.

Rijke retired in 1882, and was succeeded by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes as Professor of Experimental Physics at Leiden University.

Rijke died on 7 April 1899 in Leiden at the age of 86.

Rijke became a Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1863.[3]

Publications

[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Pieter Leonhard Rijke - Physics Tree". academictree.org. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  2. ^ Pieter Rijke (1836). "De origine electricitatis voltaicae" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Petrus Leonardus Rijke (1812 - 1899)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 24 January 2016.