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OERSTED, Hans Christian, Danish physicist:b. Rudkjöbing, 14 Aug. 1777; d. Copenhagen,9 March 1851. His father was anapothecary and the boy assisted him, studied atCopenhagen, where he became assistant in themedical faculty in 1800, traveled in Europe 1801-04and again 1812-13 and in 1806 was appointedprofessor of physics at Copenhagen. In 1829he became director of the new Polytechnic ofthe same city and in 1850 a privy councillor.His greatest work written in Berlin was theresult of experiments on the magnetic needlewith the electric current, which established theintimate interrelation of electricity, galvanismand magnetism and which were described inhis ‘Experimenta circa Effectum ConflictusElectrici in Acum Magneticam’ (1820). In 1819he discovered experimentally that a magneticneedle was deflected by a current in a wirepassed over it or below it. This is the earliestrecorded experiment in electric magnetism; andis of great importance because it opened theway to many brilliant experiments and finallyled to the subjugation of electricity to industrialand other uses. As a reward for this andother experiments and discoveries in electricityOersted was awarded the Copley medal by theRoyal Society of England and the highestmathematical honors of the Institute of Paris.Oersted also wrote a valuable ‘Manual ofMechanical Physics’ (1844) and various studiesin chemistry, physics, metaphysics, æsthetics andpopular science, all pervaded with his predominatingthought of the unity of sciences and theirposition as the servants of religion. His styleis clear, picturesque and attractive and his workshave been popular in the original and in Germanversions. Oersted endeavored to makescientific subjects popular, and with this end inview he wrote very many periodical articlesand numerous books and his university lectureswere thrown into popular form. ConsultAlexander, C. A., ‘Memoir of Oersted’ (a translationof Beaumont's life of Oersted, publishedin the Annual Report of the SmithsonianInstitute 1868 and in book form 1869); Hauchand Forchhammer, ‘Biography of Oersted’ (1853).
