Peter van de Kamp
| Peter van de Kamp | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 26, 1901 Kampen, Netherlands |
| Died | May 18, 1995 (aged 93) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Residence | Netherlands, United States |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Fields | astronomy |
| Institutions | Sproul Observatory, University of Amsterdam |
| Alma mater | University of Utrecht, University of California, Berkeley |
| Known for | astrometry |
| Influenced | Wilhelm Gliese |
| Notable awards | Janssen Prize |
Piet van de Kamp (December 26, 1901 in Kampen – May 18, 1995 in Amsterdam), known as Peter van de Kamp in the United States, was a Dutch astronomer who lived most of his life in the United States. He was professor of astronomy at Swarthmore College and director of the college's Sproul Observatory from 1937 until 1972. He specialized in astrometry, studying parallax and proper motions of stars. He came to public attention in the 1960s when he announced that Barnard's star had a planetary system based on observed "wobbles" in of its motion, but this is now known to be false.
Van de Kamp was the son of Lubbertus van de Kamp, who had an administrative job at a cigar factory, and Engelina C.A. van der Wal. His younger brother, Jacob van de Kamp, also was a successful scientist, an organic chemist, who spent most of his career in the United States. Van de Kamp studied at the University of Utrecht and started his professional career at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute in Groningen working with Pieter Johannes van Rhijn. In 1923 he left for the Leander McCormick Observatory at the University of Virginia for a year's residence supported by the Draper Fund of the National Academy of Sciences. There he assisted Samuel Alfred Mitchell with his extensive stellar parallax program and Harold Alden with the lengthy Boss star project.
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