Nienhuys married and had two sons with Cheng Shan-Hwei. Born in Sichuan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, she was raised in Taiwan where she also studied mathematics, finishing her studies in the United States. She went on to teach informatics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and become the director of the Chinese School Eindhoven. The couple published an article together in 1979, Onwaar versus onzinnig in the Dutch journal Euclides, and co-authored a book about China, China: Geschiedenis, Cultuur, Wetenschap, Kunst En Politiek (2007).[4]
Skepticism
Nienhuys is a prolific skeptic. Amongst other things he has written several articles on pseudoscience, mainly about quackery such as homeopathy and the anti-vaccination movement. Since the late 1980s he has served as a board member, and since 2003 secretary of, Stichting Skepsis. Nienhuys also writes articles as an editorial staff member of the magazine Skepter. From July 2008 until 6 November 2010, he was editor-in-chief of the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij website.[5]
In 1983, Nienhuys criticised the confluence model of Robert B. Zajonc and Gregory B. Markus. This mathematical model would serve as proof that a connection existed between the order of birth and intelligence to the advantage of the firstborn, as Lillian Belmont and Francis A. Marolla concluded in 1973 from a registration of the Dutch armed forces. This record consisted of the data of nearly 400,000 19-year-old men born in the period 1944–1947, originally collected to investigate the effects of the Hunger Winter (1944–1945) on mental and physical development.[6][7][8] According to Nienhuys, Zajonc and Markus's model contained errors in the logic, calculations and methodology used.[9]
Since 2010, Nienhuys has been a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.[10] He often lectures at skeptical conferences such as Skepsis congresses and SKEPP conventions.[11][12] On 4 October 2014, Nienhuys received the Gebroeders Bruinsma Erepenning, an award of the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij.[13] The society praised Nienhuys for his "enormous engagement, an amazing ability to quickly master certain issues, an enormous productivity and an unparalleled accuracy."[14]
Nienhuys, Jan Willem; Nienhuys-Cheng, Shan-Hwei (1979). "Onwaar versus onzinnig". Euclides. 54 (78/79): 73–80. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
^Renckens, C.N.M. (2011). "Jan Willem Nienhuys gestopt als webmaster". Nederlands Tijdschrift Tegen de Kwakzalverij (in Dutch). 122 (1). Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij: 16–18.
