Van Heurck, Henri (Dr)

Identity

Category

Person (Male)

Alternative name or descriptor

Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

Status

  • Amateur

Details

Life dates

Antwerp, 1838 - Antwerp, 1909

Activity

1885 - 1903 Anvers
° 28.8.1838; + 13.3.1909. Professor of botany and director of the Botanical Gardens in Antwerp. His in-depth microscopic research led Van Heurck to use photography for scientific purposes, especially in the field of diatoms. Improvement of Zeiss microscopes. Author of the article "Notice sur une série de photo-microgrammes faits en 1886", "Bulletin des séances de la Société belge de microscopie", vol. 13, 1886. Also authored "Le microscope, sa construction, son maniement, la technique microscopique en général; la microphotographie; le passé and l'avenir du microscope", Antwerp & Brussels, 4th edition, 1891. The latter work contains collotype plates from his photomicrographs of diatoms.
Van Heurck, a pioneer of X-ray photography, took his first radiographic image on 29.1.1896 and his final ones some 15 months later. The results of this research were published in his work "La technique et les applications diverses des rayons X. Guide pratique du radiographe", Antwerp, 1897, illustrated with halftone reproductions from his own negatives. He exhibited around 40 albumen prints from his X-rays at the "Exposition des Arts Photographiques" in Rouen in November 1898.

Locations

1885 - 1903 Anvers

Exhibitions

Brussels, 1897; Rouen, 1898; Antwerp (CEPSA), 1903.

Genres / subject matter

Techniques

Bibliography/Webography

DE WILDEMAN, E. "Van Heurck (Henri-Ferdinand)", Biographie Nationale, vol. 29, col. 425-428.
FRISON, Ed. Henri Van Heurck, 1838-1909: sa vie, son oeuvre (communication no. 111 of the "Musée des sciences exactes et naturelles"). Leiden, 1959, 106 pp.
ROOSENS, Laurent. "Dr Henri Van Heurck, A Belgian Pioneer in Radiography", Scientiarum Historia, n° 2, 1973, pp. 90-100.
DORIKENS, Maurice, et al. Verborgen voor het oog. Historische microscopen en X-stralen foto's uit de Collectie Dr Henri Van Heurck (1835-1909). Ghent, 2003, 59 pp.

Context

Affiliations

Management

Record source

DIRECTORY_1997#4450

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation/revision

SFJ revised 17.2.2018; MD revised 20.10.2023 & 22.3.2024

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