Robert Jacobus Forbes

Robert Jacobus Forbes or Robert James Forbes (21 April 1900, Breda – 13 January 1973, Haarlem) was a Dutch chemist and historian of science.

Forbes was of Scottish origin and a descendant of the Scottish theologian John Forbes of Corse. He spent much of his childhood in China. He studied chemistry from 1917 to 1923 at TU Delft. From 1923 to 1958 he worked as a chemist for Royal Dutch Shell. In 1947 he was appointed a professor in the history of applied science and technology at the University of Amsterdam. From 1959 on he was a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

As science historian Forbes wrote about the history of technology, particularly oil technology in the ancient world. He also wrote a book about Simon Stevin, describing Stevin's mill building and hydraulic engineering work. His work A history of science and technology, written with Eduard Dijksterhuis, proposed a synthesis of the history of science.

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