Peter Van de Kamp

Piet van de Kamp (December 26, 1901, Kampen – May 18, 1995, Amsterdam), known as Peter van de Kamp in the United States, was a Dutch astronomer who lived most of his life in the United States. He was professor of astronomy at Swarthmore College and director of the college's Sproul Observatory from 1937 until 1972. He specialized in astrometry, studying parallax and proper motions of stars. He came to public attention in the 1960s when he announced that Barnard's star had a planetary system based on observed "wobbles" in of its motion, but this is now known to be spurious.

Read more about Peter Van De Kamp:  Life, The Barnard's Star Affair, Music, Later Life and Death, Awards and Honors

Famous quotes containing the words peter and/or van:

    A fanatic is a man that does what he thinks the Lord would do if He knew the facts of the case.
    —Finley Peter Dunne (1867–1936)

    I know that Europe’s wonderful, yet something seems to lack;
    The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
    —Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933)