Hans Christian Ørsted: Reading Nature's Mind

Front Cover
OUP Oxford, May 23, 2013 - Biography & Autobiography - 743 pages
Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851) is of great importance as a scientist and philosopher far beyond the borders of Denmark and his own time. At the centre of an international network of scholars, he was instrumental in founding the world picture of modern physics. Ørsted was the physicist who brought Kant's metaphysics to fruition. In 1820 his discovery of electro-magnetism, a phenomenon that could not possibly exist according to his adversaries, changed the course of research in physics. It inspired Michael Faraday's experiments and discovery of the adverse effect, magneto-electric induction. The two physical phenomena were later described in mathematical equations by J.C. Maxwell. Together these discoveries constitute the prerequisites for the overwhelming development of modern technology. But Ørsted was also one of the cultural leaders and organizers of the Danish Golden Age (together with Grundtvig, Kierkegaard, and Hans-Christian Andersen, his protegé), and made significant contributions to aesthetics, philosophy, pedagogy, politics, and religion. Ørsted remarkably bridged the gap between science, the humanities, and the arts.
 

Contents

THE COSMOSPOLITAN
95
THE RESEARCHER AND TEACHER
163
THE SPOUSE
245
THE TRIUMPHATOR
325
THE ORGANISER
405
FAME AND TRIBULATIONS
495
Notes
665
Archival Material Bibliography
710
Index of Names
733
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About the author (2013)

Dan Charly Christensen worked as Lecturer and Reader within the Department of History at Roskilde University (1972-2010), Denmark. His two volume biography, Naturens Tankelæser. En Biografi om Hans Christian Ørsted (Museum Tusculanum, Copenhagen 2009), was nominated for Weekendavisen's annual literary prize, and awarded the H.O. Lange Literary Prize by the Royal Library and Gad's Foundation.