astronomy

Willem Schermerhorn

Willem Schermerhorn is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Willem Schermerhorn rather than just read about it. In short: Willem "Wim" Schermerhorn (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪ(lə)m ˈsxɛrmərˌɦɔr(ə)n]; 17 December 1894 – 10 March 1977) was a Dutch politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 25 June 1945 until 3 July 1946. He was a member of the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA).

Key takeaways

Willem Schermerhorn belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Willem Schermerhorn to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Willem Schermerhorn from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Willem "Wim" Schermerhorn (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪ(lə)m ˈsxɛrmərˌɦɔr(ə)n]; 17 December 1894 – 10 March 1977) was a Dutch politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 25 June 1945 until 3 July 1946. He was a member of the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA). According to Harry W. Laidler, the government under Schermerhorn's premiership "achieved important results in the fields of labor, finance, housing, old age pensions, and the social services".

Early life Willem Schermerhorn was born on 17 December 1894 in Akersloot in the Dutch province of North Holland. He grew up in a Protestant family of farmers. He became professor of land surveying and geodesy at the Delft University of Technology on 7 September 1926. He was a leader in photogrammetry and founder of the International Training Centre for Aerial Survey. The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing has offers an award in memory of Schermerhorn. Schermerhorn remained professor until 1944, when he was removed by the German occupational forces because of his activities in the Dutch resistance. He was interned by the German occupational forces as a hostage in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel from May 1942 until December 1943. After he was removed as professor in 1944 Schermerhorn went into hiding to avoid being taken prisoner by the German occupational forces.

Politics On 24 June 1945 he became Prime Minister of the Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet, the first cabinet after World War II. Schermerhorn was the first Dutch Prime Minister who appointed civil servants with a political background, people like Koos Vorrink and Hendrik Brugmans (nicknamed "The Schermerboys"). After the elections of 1946 he became a member of parliament, as a member of the social democratic Labour Party. He remained a member of parliament until 1951. After his parliamentarian career ended he became director of the International Training Center for Aerial Survey in 1951 (until 1969). In 1956 he became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Personal life On 9 April 1919, Schermerhorn married Barbara Rook (13 June 1897 – 7 January 1986). Wim Schermerhorn died on 10 March 1977 in Haarlem. He was 82. His brother, Dirk Schermerhorn, was an engineer in the Soviet Union (he was involved in the construction of the Moscow Subway). He was killed during the Stalinist purges in 1937. His sister, Neeltje, was married to theologian Johannes Marie de Jonge, principal of the Theological Seminary of the Dutch Reformed Church in Driebergen (1960–1968).

Decorations

References

External links Media related to Wim Schermerhorn at Wikimedia Commons

(in Dutch) Dr.Ir. W. (Willem) Schermerhorn Parlement & Politiek (in Dutch) Dr.Ir. W. Schermerhorn (PvdA) Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Willem Schermerhorn

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Willem Schermerhorn claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Willem Schermerhorn before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Willem Schermerhorn ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Willem Schermerhorn

In research: Willem Schermerhorn appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Willem Schermerhorn in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Willem Schermerhorn is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1894 births, 1977 deaths, 20th-century Dutch civil servants, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Willem Schermerhorn outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Willem Schermerhorn in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Willem Schermerhorn means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Willem Schermerhorn out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Willem Schermerhorn in simple terms?

Why does Willem Schermerhorn matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Willem Schermerhorn?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Willem Schermerhorn.