XII. SUMMARY
The life of Johan Adriaen van de Perre de Nieuwerve (1738-1790) was strongly influenced
by the general interest in science which is a characteristic of the eighteenth century.
Part I of the present study outlines his biography. By birth and marriage vdP was among the
wealthiest and most influential people in his native town of Middelburg. In 1768 - after a
governmental crisis in the province of Zealand - he was unexpectedly called to the politi
cally important post of 'Representant' of the stadholder, Prince William V. He held it for
over ten years.
Still, disappointed by the political intrigues which as a moderate man he loathed, in 1779 he
turned his back on public life. The next decennium he was to devote to his studies in the do
main of theology and the natural sciences. As a 'philosopher', vdP's inspiration was first of
all religious. The study of nature was, to him, a way of glorifying the Almighty. Moreover,
he felt that society as a whole could not but profit by the stimulation and dissemination of
scientific knowledge.
Hence his subsidizing and founding of sundry 'learned societies'. As an example we need
only recall his Natuurkundig Genootschap der Dames (the Ladies' Physical Society), the
only one of its kind in the Low Countries.
Towards the end of his life, in 1787, he tried to establish a sort of centre, the Musaeum Me-
dioburgense, in which the various currents of scientific endeavour might meet and join.
The political upheavals which troubled the Netherlands from 1787 onwards hindered the
full development of this initiative, all the more so as vdP died in 1790.
Part 11 gives a survey of vdP's modest work in the scientific field. Around 1770, the ancient
belief - dating back to Hippocrates - in a connexion between epidemics and atmospheric
conditions, had regained actuality. The main contributing factor had been the discovery of
various gases. The importance to society of investigating the possibility of such a connexion
appealed strongly to vdP. Financially as well as by his own observations he supported the
Natuur- en. Geneeskundige Correspondentie Sociëteit, the first official organization in the
Netherlands to tackle meteorology. Moreover, from 1782 on, he recorded meteorological
observations for the Societas Meteorologica Palatina. This organization, founded in 1780 at
Mannheim, is generally considered to be among the first centres of international meteoro
logical coordination. The published recordings of the Societas are one of the mainstays of
modern climatological studies. vdP's daily observations cover a wide range of measurings,
bearing on barometric pressure, temperature, humidity, atmospheric electricity, windfor-
ce and -velocity, as also cloud formation. In addition he noted down botanical observa
tions.
Closely connected with vdP's interest in meteorology are his experiments on several gases.
He closely followed recent discoveries in this field, and repeated some published experi
ments. Thus, in 1783, he claimed to have confirmed a discovery by Priestley, viz. the lat-
ter's (subsequently retracted) observation of the supposed element water being converted
into atmospheric air.
Finally, vdP's library and his cabinet of physical instruments are reviewed. These, too, give
evidence of his absorption in the physics and chemistry of his time.
Ill
