Tiberius Cornelis Winkler
Encyclopedia
Tiberius Cornelis Winkler (1822-1897) was a Dutch anatomist, zoologist and natural historian
, and the second curator of geology
, paleontology
and mineralogy
at Teylers Museum
in Haarlem
. Besides translating the first edition of Charles Darwin's
Origin of Species (1860), he wrote a great number of works popularising science, particularly the life sciences.
capital of Leeuwarden. There, he attended primary school until his 12th or 13th year. His father subsequently arranged his apprenticeship to a grain merchant. He used his wages to educate himself in French, then German, then English. This desire for self-education and self-discipline would characterise Winkler throughout his life.
He married in 1844 and began to study medicine in order to become a surgeon. In 1850, Winkler moved to Haarlem
with his wife and four children, to begin his education at the local surgeons' college. He graduated two years later, and set up practice in Nieuwediep
. His first patient
, a fisherman, complained of being stung by a weever fish
. His studies took him to the library of Teylers Museum
in Haarlem, and his subsequent article on the weever in the popular journal Album der Natuur established him as an expert on fishes.
and geology
. The curator, professor Van Breda
, approached him to describe the fossil fishes from his own and Teylers' collections. This set Winkler up at the museum and his work, duly lauded, was published in the Verhandelingen ('Transactions') of Teylers' Society in 1859. This was followed up by further work on fishes from the German Solnhofen
limestone
, and completion of the catalogue of the museum's fossil fish collection.
This achievement so impressed the Museum's directors that they approached Winkler to do the same for their other fossil and mineral collections. A year later he finished the catalogue, despite being forced to work in an unheated room and continuing with his general medical practice. In 1864 Winkler was asked to become curator of Teylers' paleontological and mineralogical cabinet, a post he kept until his death in 1897.
He immediately set to work to catalogue the Museum's entire collection of fossils, which at the time was unnumbered and, frequently, undocumented. On the advice of the prominent Utrecht
natural historian
Pieter Harting
, he applied a numerical system in which the fossils were divided into Periods (Paleozoic
, Mesozoic
and Caenozoic) and sorted from 'high' to 'low'. This system, and the way in which Winkler applied it, already showed the influence of Darwin's
theory of evolution
.
Completing this catalogue would take until 1896, by which time six volumes and five supplements had been published, documenting a total of 15,458 fossils. Winkler also catalogued the museum's mineral
collection.
Just as importantly, Winkler translated numerous scientific works into Dutch
. Most famous among these was Charles Darwin
's seminal Origin of Species, which appeared in Dutch one year after its English release in 1859. Winkler also proved himself to be a vocal defender of the theory of evolution, to the extent that he did not wish to question - unlike, at the time, Darwin himself - man's place in evolution.
Winkler was an active supporter of Volapük
, a constructed language
invented by the catholic priest Johann Martin Schleyer
.
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, and the second curator of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
and mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
at Teylers Museum
Teylers Museum
Teyler's Museum , located in Haarlem, is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. The museum is in the former home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst . He was a wealthy cloth merchant and Amsterdam banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of religion, art and science...
in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
. Besides translating the first edition of Charles Darwin's
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
Origin of Species (1860), he wrote a great number of works popularising science, particularly the life sciences.
Early life
Winkler was born in 1822, in the FrisianFriesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
capital of Leeuwarden. There, he attended primary school until his 12th or 13th year. His father subsequently arranged his apprenticeship to a grain merchant. He used his wages to educate himself in French, then German, then English. This desire for self-education and self-discipline would characterise Winkler throughout his life.
He married in 1844 and began to study medicine in order to become a surgeon. In 1850, Winkler moved to Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
with his wife and four children, to begin his education at the local surgeons' college. He graduated two years later, and set up practice in Nieuwediep
Nieuwediep
Nieuwediep is a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Aa en Hunze, and lies about 20 km east of Assen....
. His first patient
Patient
A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....
, a fisherman, complained of being stung by a weever fish
Weever
Weevers are nine species of fish of family Trachinidae, order Perciformes. They are long , mainly brown and have poisonous spines on their first dorsal fin and gills. During the day, weevers bury themselves in sand, just showing their eyes, and snatch prey as it comes past, which consists of...
. His studies took him to the library of Teylers Museum
Teylers Museum
Teyler's Museum , located in Haarlem, is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. The museum is in the former home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst . He was a wealthy cloth merchant and Amsterdam banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of religion, art and science...
in Haarlem, and his subsequent article on the weever in the popular journal Album der Natuur established him as an expert on fishes.
At Teylers
At the Museum, he also developed an interest in paleontologyPaleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
and geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
. The curator, professor Van Breda
Jacob Gijsbertus Samuël van Breda
Jacob Gijsbertus Samuël van Breda was a Dutch biologist and geologist.Jacob was the son of Jacob van Breda, a Dutch physician, physicist and politician, and Anna Elsenera van Campen. His mother died when he was two years old...
, approached him to describe the fossil fishes from his own and Teylers' collections. This set Winkler up at the museum and his work, duly lauded, was published in the Verhandelingen ('Transactions') of Teylers' Society in 1859. This was followed up by further work on fishes from the German Solnhofen
Solnhofen
Solnhofen is a municipality in the district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen in the region of Franconia in the Land of Bavaria in Germany. It lies within the Altmühl valley....
limestone
Solnhofen limestone
The Solnhofen Plattenkalk is a Jurassic Konservat-Lagerstätte that preserves a rare assemblage of fossilized organisms, including highly detailed imprints of soft bodied organisms such as sea jellies...
, and completion of the catalogue of the museum's fossil fish collection.
This achievement so impressed the Museum's directors that they approached Winkler to do the same for their other fossil and mineral collections. A year later he finished the catalogue, despite being forced to work in an unheated room and continuing with his general medical practice. In 1864 Winkler was asked to become curator of Teylers' paleontological and mineralogical cabinet, a post he kept until his death in 1897.
He immediately set to work to catalogue the Museum's entire collection of fossils, which at the time was unnumbered and, frequently, undocumented. On the advice of the prominent Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
natural historian
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
Pieter Harting
Pieter Harting
Pieter Harting was a Dutch biologist and naturalist, born in Rotterdam. He made contributions in a number of scientific disciplines, and is remembered for his work in the fields of microscopy, hydrology, botany, and biostratigraphy.In 1835 he obtained his medical degree from the University of...
, he applied a numerical system in which the fossils were divided into Periods (Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
, Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
and Caenozoic) and sorted from 'high' to 'low'. This system, and the way in which Winkler applied it, already showed the influence of Darwin's
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
theory of evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
.
Completing this catalogue would take until 1896, by which time six volumes and five supplements had been published, documenting a total of 15,458 fossils. Winkler also catalogued the museum's mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
collection.
Publications
Winkler was very active as a populariser of science. He wrote more than a hundred articles, many of them aimed at educating the general public, much as he had educated himself. Many of these works appeared in Album der Natuur ('Album of Nature').Just as importantly, Winkler translated numerous scientific works into Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. Most famous among these was Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's seminal Origin of Species, which appeared in Dutch one year after its English release in 1859. Winkler also proved himself to be a vocal defender of the theory of evolution, to the extent that he did not wish to question - unlike, at the time, Darwin himself - man's place in evolution.
Winkler was an active supporter of Volapük
Volapük
Volapük is a constructed language, created in 1879–1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany. Schleyer felt that God had told him in a dream to create an international language. Volapük conventions took place in 1884 , 1887 and 1889 . The first two conventions used...
, a constructed language
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...
invented by the catholic priest Johann Martin Schleyer
Johann Martin Schleyer
Martin Schleyer was a German Catholic priest who invented the constructed language Volapük. His official name was "Martin Schleyer"; he added the name "Johann" unofficially....
.
External sources
- Winkler in the Volapük Wikipedia