Peter Kolb
Peter Kolb was a well educated astronomer from southern Germany, who spent about 8 years at an outpost of the Dutch East India Company at the Cape of Good Hope. He was sent there to do observations on the nature and the stars, and he did so meticulously. Although some of his collected data got lost during his voyage, he later compiled a book about the immigrant population, the nature and the original inhabitants at the Cape of Good Hope. This book was translated into many languages and served as a reference from the 18th century until today, due to Kolb’s well described and detailed observations.
I have been studying Physics and Astronomy in South Africa, when I became interested in Peter Kolb and his life. Due to this interest, I have started to do research on the history of Astronomy in the 18th century and on the early history of the Cape of Good Hope and the KhoiKhoi – as some of the original inhabitants are often called.
Especially in the past years, I have been continuously collecting information about the relevant times and I am still busy seeking contact to collaborateurs, who are interested in working together with me on the mentioned topics. So far, I have gotten a lot of good feedback and I am now setting up a working platform for all colleagues for discussions and for collecting data.
An observer in the 18th century
