Jo Thijsse: Difference between revisions

He served as the first director of the [[Waterloopkundig Laboratorium]] ''(Delft Hydraulic Research Laboratory)'', a position he held from 1927 until 1960. Under Thijsse's leadership, the laboratory became a leading international centre for hydraulic, river and coastal engineering research. The laboratory came to be officially known by its English name, Delft Hydraulics, and continues today as a major research institute and the cornerstone of the international [[nonprofit]] knowledge institute for water and the subsurface, ''[[Deltares'']].<ref>{{Cite web |title=About us {{!}} Deltares |url=https://www.deltares.nl/en/about-us |access-date=27 June 2023 |website=www.deltares.nl |language=en}}</ref>

Lorentz's fundamental and theoretical approach based on the laws of [[hydrodynamics]] greatly impacted Thijsse, influencing much of his subsequent work. The commission's main mandate was to investigate how the closure of the [[Zuiderzee]] would impact storm-induced water levels. The findings of the commission's report in 1926 marked the first significant milestone in Thijsse's career, leading to his appointment as an Officer in the [[Order of Orange-Nassau]] in 1927.<ref name= "Battjes" /><ref name= "SCZ">{{cite book | last1=Lorentz | first1=H.A. |author-link2=Hendrik Wortman | last2=Wortman | first2=H. | last3=van Everdingen | first3=E. | last4=Stoel | first4=W.F. | last5=Behrens | first5=W.K. | last6=de Blocq van Kuffeler | first6=V.J.P.| last7=Du Croix | first7=W.K. | last8=Gallé | first8=P.H. | last9=Gelinck | first9=W.G.C. | last10=Gockinga | first10=R.H. | last11=Kooper | first11=J. | last12=Lely | first12=C.W. | last13=Lumme | first13=J.L.H. | last14=Mansholt | first14=L.H. | last15=Mazure | first15=J.P. | last16=de Muralt | first16=R.R.L. | last17=de Nerée Tot Babberich | first17=L.M. | last18=Phaff | first18=J.M. | last19=Reigersman | first19=C.J.A. | last20=Thijsse | first20=J.Th. | last21=van der Stok | first21=J.P. | last22=van Loon | first22=A.R. | last23=van Vlissingen | first23=J.P. | last24=de Vries | first24=J.J. | last25=Wijtenhorst | first25=J.P. | last26=Wouda | first26=D.F. | date=1926 |title= Verslag van de commissie Lorentz (gevolgen afsluiting Zuiderzee op het getij)|trans-title=Report of the Lorentz Committee (Effects of the closure of the Zuiderzee on the tide) |url=http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f5a4fe20-b26a-4875-9f96-6be04ba16c59 |language=nl |publisher=Staatsdrukkerij en -uitgeverijbedrijf |volume= |pages= |doi= |access-date= 21 June 2023 |location= The Hague}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vreugdenhil |first1=K. |last2=Alberts |first2=G. |last3=van Gelder |first3=P. |date=2001 |title=Een eeuw wiskunde en werkelijkheid Waterloopkunde |trans-title=A century of mathematics and reality in hydraulic engineering |url=https://www.nieuwarchief.nl/serie5/pdf/naw5-2001-02-3-266.pdf |journal=NAW |language=nl |location=Amsterdam |volume=5/2 |issue=3 |pages=266–276 |access-date=7 October 2023}}</ref>

}}</ref> After his involvement at Walcheren, Thijsse was portrayed as the character ''van der Molen'' in the non-fiction novel [[Het verjaagde water]] by [[A. den Doolaard]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Den Doolaard |first=A. |title=Het verjaagde water |publisher=N.V. Em. Querido Uitgeversmaatschappij |year=1948 |location=Amsterdam |language=nl |trans-title=Roll back the sea}}</ref> Immediately after the disastrous effects of the [[North Sea flood of 1953|North Sea Flood of 1953]], Thijsse was immediately recalled by the Dutch Government from a lecture tour of the United States to work with the {{Lang|nl|Deltacommissie}} overseeing the Delta Works.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van Dantzig |first=D. |author-link=David van Dantzig |date=1954 |title=Mathematical problems raised by the flood disaster 1953 |url=https://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/titel/1967910 |journal=Proceedings of the International congress of mathematicians, 1954, Amsterdam Sept. 2 - 9 |pages=218 - 239 |access-date=20 July 2024 |via=[[Wageningen University]] Research Library catalogue}}</ref>