, a Dutch author, was the son of a carpenter at Dimmermeer, near
, a Dutch author, was the son of a carpenter at Dimmermeer, near Amsterdam, and was born in 1764. In his childhood he evinced extraordinary proofs of genius, and at the age of ten years produced some excellent pieces of poetry, and was, even then, able to solve problems in mathematics without having had any instruction from a master. The Batavian government appointed him one of the commissioners of longitude, and he was successively professor of mathematics and philosophy at Utrecht and Amsterdam. He died in 1794. He was author of several works, among which may be mentioned the following: 1. Poems in the Dutch language; 2. A tract on the means of enlightening a People; 3. On the general utility of the Mathematics; 4. Of the System of Lavoisier; and 5. A treatise on Navigation. To these may be added treatises on the form of the globe on the course of comets, and the uncertainty of their return and on the method of ascertaining the latitude at sea.