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Top 10 Interesting Facts about Felix Andries Vening Meinesz

Felix Andries Vening Meinesz, was a Dutch geophysicist and geodesist. He was mostly known for his invention gave a precise method for measuring gravity. His invention made it possible to measure gravity at sea, which led him to the discovery of gravity anomalies above the ocean floor to which he attributed to continental drift.

He was born in July 30, 1887 but died on August 10^th, 1966, Amersfoort. After graduating from Delft Technical University as a civil engineer in 1910, he took part in a gravimetric survey in the Netherlands. Vening Meinesz devised an apparatus based on pendulums swinging together in opposite phase for use on the unstable subsoil.

During his early cruises he discovered striking gravity anomalies in the East Indies. He later modified this apparatus for use on submarines which was used from 1923 until the late 1950s when spring gravimeters on surface ships superseded it. Here are top 10 interesting facts about Felix Andries Vening Meinesz.

1.Vening Meinesz was a professor of geodesy at Delft Technical University

TU Delft Library, photo by Nol Aders.

From 1938 to 1957, Vening Meinesz was a professor of geodesy at Delft Technical University. Geodesy is the science of accurately measuring and understanding three fundamental properties of the Earth. They include geometric shape, orientation in space and gravity field.

Earlier in 1927, he became a part-time professor in geodesy, cartography and geophysics at Utrecht University before his work as a professor at the Delft University of Technology.

He was also offered employment by The Netherlands Geodetic Committee and was requested to take charge of the gravity measurements in the Netherlands.

2.He designed a new gravimeter

Vening Meinesz is famously known for designing a new a new gravimeter which was built by the KNMI (Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute). The apparatus has two pendulum of the same size hanging in a frame but moving in opposite phases. With mirrors and light beams the difference in amplitude of the two pendulums is captured on a film.

Vening Meinesz had discovered that horizontal accelerations had no influence on the difference in amplitude between the two pendulums. The recorded difference then is the amplitude of a theoretical, undisturbed pendulum. Now it became possible to measure gravity more accurately

3. His father was a mayor

Felix Andries Vening Meinesz was born on July 30, 1887 near The Hague to S.A. Vening Meinesz. Sjoerd Anne Vening Meinesz, was the mayor, first of Rotterdam (1880-1890), then of Amsterdam (1891-1901). He was also a lawyer and due to this one would have expected Vening Meinesz to have a career as a lawyer or magistrate but he started studying science, technology, and commerce.

4.He was a Fellow of the Royal Society

Fellow Royal Society, photo by Royal Society uploader.

Felix Andries Vening Meinesz was a fellow of the Royal Society. Fellowship of the Royal Society is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London. The award is given to individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science, and medical science. Some of the famous scientists to be awarded include Isaac Newton.

5.He was the President of the International Union of Geodesy

Vening Meinesz was President of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics from 1948 to 1951. The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) was established in 1919. Its objectives are the promotion and coordination of physical, chemical and mathematical studies of the Earth and its environment in space.

6.He received several awards

Photo by Ariel on

Felix Andries was awarded many awards among them The Howard N. Potts Medal, The Penrose Medal and The William Bowie Medal. The first Howard N. Potts Medal was awarded in 1911 but was merged in 1991, along with other Franklin Institute historical awards, into the Benjamin Franklin Medal.

The Penrose Medal on the other hand was created in 1925 by R.A.F. Penrose, Jr., as the top prize awarded by the Geological Society of America. He also received The William Bowie Medal which is awarded annually by the American Geophysical Union for outstanding contributions to fundamental geophysics and for unselfish cooperation in research.

The award is the highest honor given by the AGU and is named in honor of William Bowie, one of the co-founders of the Union. In addition he was awarded The Bowie Medal of the American Geophysical Union and the Agassiz Medal of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington; and, in 1933, was designated Knight In the Order of the Dutch Lion by Royal Decree.

7.He went on a submarine expedition

Photo by 袗薪 袧械褌 on

When Vening Meinesz measured the gravity field of the Earth, he used his pendulum apparatus on board several submarines. In his publication titled Gravity Expeditions at Sea he describes his expeditions at sea.

With the goal to establish the exact shape of the geoid and the Earth, he embarked on these expeditions between 1923 and 1929. However, Vening Meinesz was not on board during expeditions after 1939 instead his experiments were performed by his students.

8. Several things were named after him

Felix Andries鈥� name was used to name a gravimeter which is an apparatus to measure gravity. He was also named after a mathematical function used in geodesy, which is the science of accurately measuring and understanding the fundamental properties of the Earth.

His name was used in a medal of the European Geophysical Society/European Geosciences Union and a research school at Utrecht University. In addition, the crater Vening Meinesz on the Moon was named after him.

9.He was involved in the Dutch resistance

Resistance group operating near Dalfsen, photo by Werkgroep Do.

In World War II, Vening Meinesz was involved in the Dutch resistance. After the war he could take up his tasks as a professor again. From 1945 to 1951 he was the director of the KNMI. From 1948 to 1951, Vening Meinesz was President of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. He retired in 1957, and died in Amersfoort in 1966.

10.His expedition with the submarine was made into a movie

In 1935 one of his expeditions with the submarine, Hr. Ms. K XVIII, was made into a movie. The film had great reviews and Vening Meinesz became a hero of the Dutch cinema public. He gradually gained international scientific spotlight considering his research.

Felix Andries Vening Meinesz was indeed a great geophysicist and geodesist. During his last years of his life Vening Meinesz once remarked that in his youth he intended to become a civil engineer and indeed graduated in that science.

His inventions and research all together placed him in the first rank among the geophysicists of his time. He also expanded the mathematical theory which was used to convert the physical information about the gravity field to geometric information about the shape of the earth.