Hans Christian Ørsted

In November 1850, a national holiday was declared by the Government of Denmark, honouring this accomplished scientist and his work at the ‘University of Copenhagen’.

On March 9th, 1851, Oersted died in Copenhagen at the age of 73, and his funeral was attended by all distinguished people of Denmark.

As a scientist, Oersted was more enthusiastic about spreading scientific knowledge among people in general, rather than confining it within academic buildings and science laboratories.

Hans was born on August 14th, 1777 in Rudkobing in Denmark. His father Soren Christian Oersted was a practising pharmacist, and young Hans helped his father in the family business and got introduced to chemistry and science.

Because of his father’s preoccupation with business and his mother’s engagement with a large family, Hans and his young brother Anders were sent to live with a German wigmaker and his wife. It was during this time, that the two brothers became acquainted with German and even learnt rudimentary Latin, French and mathematics.

At the age of 17, the family moved to Copenhagen and both the brothers were able to clear the entrance examination of the University with honours.

At the University, Hans studied physics, astronomy, chemistry and mathematics. Hans was quite influenced by Kantian philosophy and defended all his theories fiercely. In 1797, he received the pharmaceutical degree with honours.

The next year, he became one of the members of the editorial board of ‘Philosophisk repertorium for faedrelandets nyeste litteratur’, but the stint was short-lived. His interest in this magazine resulted from the fact that this magazine was known to defend Kantian philosophy.

Hans was appointed as a pharmacy manager for a few days, and in 1801, he left his job to travel and complete his scientific knowledge.

At Gottingen, he was introduced to Johann Ritter who was working on the chemical effects of current electricity. Ritter’s ideas were unorthodox and stimulated Hans to develop his own ideas.

At Berlin, he met Henrik Steffens and Franz Baader, and he read Schelling. During his journey he collaborated with great minds, who influenced his philosophical thoughts.

In Paris, the first spark of scientific endeavour was noticed in the scholar when he defended Ritter’s work.

Although he faced his share of criticism, he learnt one important lesson. He discovered that many of the concepts which he previously believed to be scientifically proven were basically figments of imagination.

His major discovery was definitely the relationship between magnetism and electricity. Hans was also responsible for the discovery of piperine, the pungent element of pepper. His discovery of aluminium in the field of chemistry is considered as a matter of monumental importance.