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ALAMY; CORBIS; SCIENCE & SOCIET Y PICTURE LIBRARY
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HansChristianØrstedwas born 14
August 1777 inRudkøbing, Denmark,
anddeveloped an interest inchemistry
thanks tohis pharmacist father. In 1793
HansChristian andhis younger brother
Anders (whowould goon tobecome
Danishprimeminister from 1853-4) left for
CopenhagenUniversity.
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In 1801 HansChristian received a
scholarship that allowedhim to
travel inEurope; five years later hewas
madeprofessor of physics at theUniversity
of Copenhagen, wherehefirst put forward
his theory thatmagnetism and
electricity arenot separate
forces but connected.
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While giving
anevening
lecture inApril 1820,
Ørstednoticed
that anelectric
current deflected
a compass needle
(
below far right
),
thoughhewas only
able to investigate
thephenomenon that summer. His
discovery inspired thedevelopment of
electromagnetic theory.
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A friendofwriterHansChristian
Andersen, Ørstedwas also apoet
with an interest in language–he supported
theuseof Danish in theuniversity and
evencreated suchwords as
ilt
(oxygen),
brint
(hydrogen) and
elektromagnetisk
(electromagnetic) tohelpclarity.
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Ørsteddiedon9March 1851 and is
buried at Copenhagen’s Assistens
cemetery. In theearly 1930s thename
“oersted”was adopted for the
physical unit ofmagnetic
field strength, and the
first Danish satellitewas
named after him in 1999
(it’s still inoperation).
Norwegianflies to
Copenhagen from
nearly60destinations.
Bookflights,ahotel
andarental carat
norwegian.com
HCØrsted’s
other feats
1799
Ørsteddefended
Kant’sdynamic theory
ofmatter inhis
doctoratedissertation
on thephilosopher’s
metaphysicsof nature
– thisbecame the
framework forØrsted’s
later scientificwork.
1820
Discoveredpiperine,
thepungent component
that causes thehotness
of pepper.
1824
FoundedSelskabet for
NaturlærensUdbredelse,
a societydevoted to
spreading scientific
knowledge among the
general public.
1825
Formulatedmetallic
aluminium.
1829
EstablishedDen
PolytekniskeLæreanstalt
(theCollegeof Advanced
Technology), now the
Technical University
ofDenmark.
Five thingsyouneed toknowaboutDanish
scientist
HansChristianØrsted
,whodiscovered
that electriccurrentsproducemagnetic fields
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