Anders Spole
Who was Anders Spole?
Swedish astronomer
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Anders Spole (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Anders Spole (13 June 1630 – 1 August 1699) was a Swedish mathematician and astronomer. He was born at a farm in Målen, in Barnarp parish, to blacksmith Per Andersson and Gunilla Persdotter. He started school at Jönköpings skola at twelve and went to the University of Greifswald in 1652. After three years, he studied at other universities in Prussia and Saxony before returning to Barnarp in 1655, where he began preaching at the local church. He later studied mathematics at Uppsala University while tutoring the sons of Baron Sjöblad. In 1663, he qualified as a master craftsman in fireworks and navigation and the next year went on a long European tour with the young Sjöblads.
Back in Sweden in 1667, Spole became a professor of mathematics at the newly opened Lund University and became its principal by 1672. He stayed in that role until 1676 when the Scanian War led to the university's closure. During the war, Spole helped defend Jönköping's fortress and fought in the Battle of Landskrona in 1677, showing his readiness to be involved in military matters.
In 1679, after the war, Spole took a professorship in astronomy at Uppsala University. He set up an astronomical observatory in his home in central Uppsala with his own resources. Though he never saw it, the great city fire of Uppsala in 1702 destroyed his observatory and instruments.
In 1695, under the orders of King Karl XI, Spole and astronomer Johannes Bilberg traveled north to Torneå and Kengis to study the midnight sun, putting him at the leading edge of astronomical research in Scandinavia. Spole married Martha Lindelius in 1669, who was distantly related to Carl von Linné. He passed away on 1 August 1699 in Uppsala. His sons were knighted in 1715 for their wartime service, and his grandson Anders Celsius became a well-known astronomer and scientist in Swedish history.
Before Fame
Anders Spole was the son of a blacksmith in rural Barnarp parish, which initially distanced him from the scholarly world he would later join. He showed promise early on, enrolling at Jönköpings skola at twelve, catching the attention of people who could help him get further education. In 1652, Spole went to the University of Greifswald, a move common among ambitious Swedish scholars of the time, as German-speaking universities were leading educational centers in northern Europe.
After finishing his studies at Greifswald and traveling through Prussia and Saxony, Spole returned to Sweden. He worked as a preacher while studying mathematics at Uppsala University. Acting as a tutor for the sons of Baron Sjöblad offered him the aristocratic support needed for academic progress in Sweden then. The European tour he took with his students in 1664 introduced him to new ideas across the continent and helped him secure future academic positions.
Key Achievements
- Appointed the first professor of mathematics at the newly founded Lund University in 1667 and later served as its principal from 1672 to 1676
- Established a privately built astronomical observatory in his Uppsala home, advancing observational astronomy in Sweden
- Led an expedition to Torneå and Kengis in 1695, commissioned by King Karl XI, to conduct scientific observations of the midnight sun
- Held a professorship in astronomy at Uppsala University from 1679, contributing to the institution's standing as a center of scientific learning
- Qualified as a master craftsman of fireworks and navigation in 1663, reflecting expertise in applied sciences alongside theoretical mathematics
Did You Know?
- 01.Spole built a private astronomical observatory inside his own home in central Uppsala, funding and equipping it himself rather than relying on institutional support.
- 02.He fought as a combatant in the Battle of Landskrona in 1677, making him one of the few Swedish university professors of his era to have direct military experience in a major engagement.
- 03.In 1663, years before his academic career in astronomy, Spole qualified as a master craftsman in fireworks and navigation, an unusual combination reflecting the practical sciences of the period.
- 04.His grandson Anders Celsius developed a temperature scale that originally set 100 as the freezing point and 0 as the boiling point; the scale was later reversed by Jean-Pierre Christin in 1744 to form what became the Celsius scale.
- 05.The astronomical observatory Spole constructed was destroyed in the great Uppsala city fire of 1702, three years after his death, taking with it all of the instruments he had accumulated over his career.