Hans Christian Ørsted

Hans Christian Ørsted (Danish: [ˈɶɐ̯steð]; 14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851), sometimes transliterated as Oersted, was a Danish chemist and physicist. He made an important discovery: that electric currents create magnetic fields. This idea is known as Oersted's law.

Ørsted also discovered aluminium, a special chemical element. He was a key figure during a time called the Danish Golden Age. Ørsted was a close friend of the famous writer Hans Christian Andersen. He had a brother named Anders Sandøe Ørsted, who later became the Prime Minister of Denmark.

Early life and studies

Ørsted was born in Rudkøbing in 1777. As a young boy, he loved science and helped his father, who owned a pharmacy in the town. He and his brother Anders mostly learned by reading and studying at home. In 1793, they went to Copenhagen to take tests to enter the University of Copenhagen, where they did very well. By 1796, Ørsted had received special recognition for his work in both aesthetics and physics. He earned his doctorate in 1799.

In 1800, a scientist named Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile, which sparked Ørsted’s interest in electricity. In 1801, he received money to travel and spent three years visiting science centers across Europe, including Berlin and Paris. In Germany, he met a physicist named Johann Wilhelm Ritter who thought electricity and magnetism might be connected. This idea interested Ørsted, and he began studying physics. He became a professor at the University of Copenhagen in 1806 and helped create new science programs and labs there.

Electromagnetism

In 1820, Ørsted discovered that a compass needle moves away from magnetic north when there is an electric current nearby. This showed a direct link between electricity and magnetism. He had been searching for this connection since 1818 but was confused by his early results.

Ørsted found that the magnetic effect spreads out from all sides of a wire with electric current, like light and heat. He later showed that the electric current creates a circular magnetic field around the wire. For this important discovery, he received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society of London and 3,000 francs from the French Academy. His work inspired many scientists and helped lead to the development of the electric telegraph.

Later years

Ørsted was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1821, a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London in 1821, and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1822. He joined the American Philosophical Society in 1829 and became a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1849.

In 1824, Ørsted helped start a group to share science with everyone. He also began groups that later grew into the Danish Meteorological Institute and the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. In 1829, he started a school called Den Polytekniske Læreanstalt, which later became the Technical University of Denmark.

Ørsted made an important discovery in chemistry in 1824. He was the first to create aluminium in its pure metal form, though it wasn’t perfect. He shared his finding with a science group in Denmark, but many scientists didn’t hear about it until later. A friend of his, Friedrich Wöhler, later made more aluminium and studied its properties.

Ørsted passed away in Copenhagen in 1851 at the age of 73 and was buried there in the Assistens Cemetery.

Legacy

The unit of magnetic induction called the oersted is named after Hans Christian Ørsted for his important work in electromagnetism.

A big energy company in Denmark, once called Danish Oil and Natural Gas (DONG), changed its name to Ørsted to show its shift from using fuels that harm the environment to building large wind farms out at sea.

Denmark’s first satellite, launched in 1999, was named after Ørsted.

Toponymy

A park in Copenhagen called Ørsted Park was named for Ørsted and his brother in 1879. Streets in Frederiksberg and Galten are also named after him.

Buildings for chemistry and math at the University of Copenhagen’s North Campus are called the H.C. Ørsted Institute, and there is a student housing area in Odense named after him.

Monuments and memorials

A statue of Hans Christian Ørsted was placed in Ørsted Park in 1880. There is also a plaque on the building in Studiestræde where he lived and worked.

Another statue of Ørsted was put up at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in 1885.

Ørsted’s face has been featured on Danish money twice—first on 500 kroner notes in 1875, and later on 100 kroner notes from 1962 to 1974.

Awards and lectures

Two awards are given in Ørsted’s name: the H. C. Ørsted Medal for Danish scientists, and the Oersted Medal for important work in teaching physics in America.

The Technical University of Denmark holds the H. C. Ørsted Lecture series for famous researchers from all over the world.

Works

Hans Christian Ørsted was not only a scientist but also a poet. One of his poetry series, called Luftskibet ("The Airship"), was inspired by the balloon flights of another scientist and magician named Étienne-Gaspard Robert.

In 1850, just before he passed away, Ørsted finished a two-volume set of philosophical articles in German titled Der Geist in der Natur ("The Soul in Nature"). This work was later translated into English and published in 1852.

Ørsted wrote many other important scientific and philosophical works throughout his life, covering topics like chemistry, natural laws, and more. Some of his notable writings include:

• Ørsted, H. C. (1836). Luftskibet, et Digt [The Airship, a Poem] (in Danish). København: Gyldendal. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/28930872).

• Ørsted, H. C. (1850–1851). Der Geist in der Natur [The Soul in Nature] (in German). München: J. G. Cotta. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/653954).

  • —— (1852). The Soul in Nature, with Supplementary Contributions. Bohn's scientific library [16]. Translated by Horner, L.; Horner, J. B. London: Henry G. Bohn. hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t4zg7w20q. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/8719272).

• Ørsted, H. C. (1807). "Betragtninger over Chemiens Historie" [Considerations on the History of Chemistry]. Det Skandinaviske Litteraturselskabs Skrifter (in Danish). 2. København: Andreas Seidelin: 1–54. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/872505637).

• —— (1809). Videnskaben om Naturens almindelige Love [The Science of the General Laws of Nature] (in Danish). København: Fr. Brummer. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/488860438).

• —— (1812). Ansicht der chemischen Naturgesetze, durch die neuern Entdeckungen gewonnen [View of the Chemical Laws of Nature Gained Through Recent Discoveries] (in German). Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/28640794).

• —— (1814). Imod den store Anklager [Against the Great Accuser] (in Danish). København: Andreas Seidelin. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/19092207).

• —— (1820). "Experiments on the Effect of a Current of Electricity on the Magnetic Needle". In Thomson, T. (ed.). Annals of Philosophy; or, Magazine of Chemistry, Mineralogy, Mechanics, Natural History, Agriculture, and the Arts. Vol. XVI. London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. pp. 273–276. hdl:2027/osu.32435051156651. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/9529852).

• —— (1844). Naturlærens mechaniske Deel [The Mechanical Part of Natural Learning] (in Danish). København: C. A. Reitzel. hdl:2027/njp.32101058433184. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/22224906).

• —— (1851). Der mechanische Theil der Naturlehre. Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/9489733). OL 6960604M.

• Harding, M. C., ed. (1920). Correspondance de H. C. Örsted avec divers savants [The Correspondence of H. C. Örsted with Various Scholars]. Copenhaugue: H. Aschehoug & Co. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/11070734).

  • Volume I, Christopher Hansteen, and Christian Samuel Weiss.

  • Volume II and numerous others, including Michael Faraday and Carl Friedrich Gauss.

A collection of Ørsted's papers was published in English for the first time in 1998:

• Ørsted, H. C. (1998). Jelved, K.; Jackson, A. D.; Knudsen, O. (eds.). Selected Scientific Works of Hans Christian Ørsted. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-69104-334-0. JSTOR j.ctt7zvhx2. OCLC (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/36393437).