Robert Jacobus Forbes

Robert Jacobus Forbes ko kuma Robert James Forbes an haifeshi a 21 Afrilu 1900, Breda - ya mutu a 13 Janairu 1973, Haarlem, ɗan ƙasar Netherlands ne, masanin sinadarai kuma tarihi na kimiyya, da kuma farfesa a tarihin amfani da kimiyya da fasaha a Jami’ar Amsterdam.

A zamaninsa, Forbes ya kasance ɗaya daga cikin sanannun kuma girmamattun masana tarihin fasaha a duniya, kuma shi ne farkon wanda ya karɓi Leonardo da Vinci Medal, babbar lambar yabo da Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) ke bayarwa.

Tarihi

Iyali, Ƙuruciya da Ilimi

An haifi Forbes a Breda a matsayin ɗan William Forbes, wanda ya kasance injiniya na soja kuma daga baya ya zama jami’in gudanarwa a Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij, da Maria Sara Johanna (van Houten) Forbes. Dangin Forbes asalinsu daga ƙasar Scotland ne, kuma zuriyar malamin addinin Kirista na Scotland John Forbes na Corse. Ya shafe yawancin ƙuruciyarsa a ƙasar China, inda ya halarci Makarantar Jama’a ta International Settlement a Shanghai.

Daga nan ya koma Netherlands, kuma daga 1912 zuwa 1917 ya halarci Hogere Burgerschool (HBS) a Leiden. Daga 1917 zuwa 1923 ya yi karatun fasahar sinadarai a Delft University of Technology, inda ya samu digirin injiniya.

Aikin Yi

Daga 1923 zuwa 1958 Forbes ya yi aiki a Royal Dutch Shell. Shekaru biyu na farko ya yi aiki a matsayin masanin sinadarai a Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam. Daga 1925 zuwa 1931 ya yi aiki a Dutch East Indies a matsayin injiniya a ma’adinan mai na Balikpapan, Borneo. Bayan dawowarsa Netherlands a 1931 ya gudanar da bincike kan amfani da asphalt wajen gina tituna. A shekarun gaba ya shiga aikin haɓaka hanyoyin bincike na sinadarai, kuma ya halarci Kwamitin Daidaitawa na Institute of Petroleum a London. A cikin shekaru uku na ƙarshe daga 1952 zuwa 1955 ya shugabanci sashen wallafa na kimiyya, inda ya rubuta tarihin Royal Dutch Shell.

A shekarar 1947 an naɗa Forbes a matsayin farfesa a tarihin kimiyyar aikace-aikace da fasaha a Jami’ar Amsterdam. Bayan ya yi ritaya daga Shell a 1958 ya zama sakatare a Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen a Haarlem, inda ya gaji marigayi Johannes Abraham Bierens de Haan. A shekarar 1960 kuma an naɗa shi farfesa a tarihin ilimin lissafi da sinadarai a Jami’ar Amsterdam.

Forbes ya yi ritaya daga Jami’ar Amsterdam a ranar 1 ga Satumba 1967. Ya rasu a gidansa da ke Haarlem a ranar 13 ga Janairu 1971 yana da shekaru 72.

Girmamawa

A shekarar 1953 an ba Forbes digirin girmamawa daga Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. An naɗa shi memba a Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences a 1959. Newcomen Society ta ba shi lambar yabo ta Dickinson Memorial Medal a 1960, sannan ta zaɓe shi a matsayin Shugaban Girmamawa. A 1962 Forbes ya zama wanda ya fara samun Leonardo da Vinci Medal daga Society for the History of Technology (SHOT).

Ayyuka

A matsayinsa na marubucin tarihin kimiyya, Forbes ya rubuta kan tarihin fasaha, musamman fasahar mai a cikin duniya ta da. A cikin shekarun 1930 ya yi nazari kan amfani da bitumen, asphalt, petroleum da kuma gina hanyoyi a Duniya ta da. Daga baya kuma ya yi nazari kan karafa da hakar ma’adanai daga 1935 zuwa 1950, tare da yin nazari kan ban ruwa da Gudanar da albarkatun ruwa daga 1938 zuwa 1941.

Forbes ya kuma rubuta littafi kan Simon Stevin, inda ya bayyana ginin injin nika da kuma aikin injiniyan ruwa na Stevin. Ayyukansa Tarihin kimiyya da fasaha, wanda ya rubuta tare da Eduard Dijksterhuis, ya gabatar da haɗaɗɗen tsarin tarihin kimiyya. A jimlace, Forbes ya wallafa sama da littattafai talatin da kusan maƙaloli dari biyu.

Tarihin tsoffin hanyoyi da ginin su

A ƙuruciyarsa Forbes ya nuna sha’awa ga ilimin kayan tarihi (archaeology), wacce ta ƙara tasiri lokacin da ya fara nazarin amfani da asphalt wajen gina hanyoyi a Shell a shekarar 1931. Tare da jagorancin masanin kayan tarihi kuma mai binciken Gabas, Henri Frankfort, Forbes ya je ƙasar Iraqi domin tattara samfurin tsohon mastic, wanda ya bincika a dakin gwaje-gwajen Shell. Wannan bincike ne ya fara kaiwa ga wallafar littafinsa na 1934 mai taken Notes on the history of ancient roads and their construction. Wannan aiki ya samu bita a cikin wallafe-wallafe da dama.

A shekarar 1936 Forbes ya kuma wallafa littafin Bitumen and petroleum in antiquity. A cikin wannan aiki Forbes ya taƙaita yadda ake amfani da bitumen da man fetur a tsohuwar duniya, kamar yadda Hassan (2013) ya bayyana cewa:

...shekaru dubu biyar da suka gabata Sumeriyawa, Masarawa na Mesopotamiya da Masarawa sun yi amfani da man fetur don dalilai da dama. A wannan lokaci, mazauna Sumeriya sun yi amfani da asphalt wajen liƙa hotuna da ƙira a bango da bene, yayin da a Mesopotamiya mutane suka yi amfani da bitumen wajen taimakawa gina hanyoyin ruwa. Haka kuma sun yi amfani da shi wajen rufe haɗin katako a jiragen ruwa domin samun sauƙin sufuri a ruwa...

A cewar Hassan (2013) Forbes ma ta nuna cewa, "tun daga shekara ta 347 AD masana’antar man fetur da iskar gas ta kasar Sin ta ci gaba sosai, domin ana hako rijiyoyin mai har zuwa kafa 800 ta amfani da rawar da aka ɗaure da sandunan bambaro."

Haɗin gwiwa a Jami’ar Amsterdam

A Jami’ar Amsterdam ya kafa zumunci da David Cohen (1882–1967), Farfesa na Tarihin Dā, wanda ya zama jagoransa. Ya zama mai goyon bayan Allard Pierson Stichting tare da Allard Pierson Museum, gidan kayan tarihi na ƙasar ƙasar Jami’ar Amsterdam, sannan ya shiga ƙungiyar Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Gezelschap Ex Oriente Lux. Littafin shekara-shekara na ƙungiyar ya ba Forbes dama don ya wallafa ayyukansa.

A Shell, aikinsa na tarihi ya zama sananne ga shugaban kamfanin Henri Deterding, wanda ya tallafa wajen wallafa ayyukansa. Tare da Deterding, Shell ta tallafa wa Allard Pierson Stichting, wadda ta ƙirƙiri kujerar tarihin kimiyya da fasahar da ake amfani da ita a Jami’ar Amsterdam a 1946 domin Forbes.