STEIN, JOHAN WILLEM JAKOB ANTOON, S. J.

(b. Grave, Netherlands, 27 February 1871;

d. Rome, Italy, 27 December 1951)

astronomy.

Stein was the son of Maria Waltéra Boerkamp and Johan Hendrik Stein, a teacher in Grave. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1889 and studied physics and astronomy at the University of Leiden (1894–1901) under Lorentz. His doctoral dissertation was concerned with the Horrebow method for determining latitude. In 1901 he taught mathematics and physics at St. Willebrord’s College in Katwijk; two years later he was ordained a priest in Maastricht.

In 1906 Stein was appointed assistant to J. G. Hagen, S.J., director of the Vatican observatory, who was then engaged in compiling an atlas of variable stars. Stein contributed to the studies on these stars and published papers on variable and double stars. He became interested in Hagen’s work on the axial rotation of the earth and in 1910 translated into French Kamerlingh Onnes’ doctoral dissertation (1879) on that subject.

Stein left Rome in 1910 to teach mathematics and physics at St. Ignatius College, Amsterdam. He remained in close contact with Hagen and in 1924 they published Die veränderlichen Sterne, an authoritative work in two volumes: the second volume, by Stein, deals with the mathematical-physical aspect of variable stars. Stein was well known to professional astronomers in the Netherlands and was a member of many astronomical societies. He edited the astronomical section of the journal Hemel en dampkring and was known for his friendly help to amateur astronomers.

In 1930 Stein succeeded Hagen as director of the Vatican observatory, where his main task was to supervise its transfer to Castel Gandolfo: the new observatory with its astrophysical laboratory was equipped during the years 1932–1935. Stein continued to direct the work of the observatory until his death in 1951.

Stein kept up a lifelong interest in the history of astronomy and in 1910, on the reappearance of Halley’s comet, published new data on the comet of 1066 from a manuscript found in the cathedral at Viterbo. Other subjects of his historical research were the astronomical ideas of Albertus Magnus and the relationship between Galileo and Clavius.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. Stein’s major printed works are Die veränderlichen Sterne, 2 vols., Mathematisch-physikalischer. vol. II (Fribourg, 1924): Stelle doppie nel Catalogo...; Vaticano (Rome, 1930): Catalogo di 982 stelle degli ammassi η e χ Persei (1928); Atlas Stellarum Variabilium, VIII(Rome, 1934), IX (Rome 1941). He contributed to various astronomical journals; and Poggendorff, V, 1203; VI, 2531, gives an extensive list of his scientific papers. A more detailed list covering Stein’s publications before 1936 is given in Notizie e pubblicazioni scientifiche (Rome, 1936). Stein contributed 106 articles to the Dutch journal Hemel en dampkring between 1910 and 1930. Archival material relating to Stein is held by the Vatican observatory at Castel Gandolfo.

II. Secondary Literature. Obituary notices include J. de Kort, S.J., in Specola Vaticana, Ricerche Astronomiche, 2, no. 16 (1952), 372–374, with portrait: and A. Pannekoek, in Jaarboek der Koninklijke Nederlandsche akademie van wetenschappen (1951–1952), 1–4. An account of Stein, with photograph, is found in Enciclopedia cattolica, XI (1953). An account of the history of the Vatican Observatory from its inception until 1951 is found in La Specola vaticana(Rome, 1952). also available in German.

Sister Maureen Farrell, F.C. J.