My name is Johan Olsen. I am a biologist and musician. My great passion is natural science. In this series I will tell you about the greatest Danish scientists - - throughout time. I want to understand what drove them and how they made their discoveries. I wish they were still here so I could get close to the geniuses who have helped shape our world. This is H.C. The Ørsted power plant in Copenhagen - - or more correctly the old diesel engine - - that was in the plant almost 100 years ago. At that time it was Denmark's largest power plant. Of course, it was named after the man who discovered the connection - - between electric current and magnetism, H.C. Ørsted. - What is this? - It's a power plant. - I've never heard of that before. - It produces electrical current. - This whole building? - This whole building. - There's enough to light up an entire city. - That's great. Yes. That's great. Ørsted lives by candlelight in the Danish Golden Age. Although we remember him as the physicist who discovered a connection between magnetism and electricity, he probably didn't write that on his business card. He is versatile and has worked as a chemist, language innovator and editor. He introduces and spreads natural science in Denmark. Characterized by the times, his ambition is to bring together all scientific theories - - into one great common explanation. But it is ironic that a power plant is named after H.C. Ørsted. He had no idea what his discovery could be used for. He had no idea that you could electrify an entire society - - like we do today. So why look for a connection between electricity and magnetism? I will try to find an answer to that in this broadcast. In 1794, young H.C. Ørsted next door to the Round Tower. Together with his brother, Anders Ørsted, he moved into Elers' Dormitory. The brother wants to study law, Hans Christian Ørsted pharmacy. Both brothers are also studying philosophy. During their studies in Copenhagen, they share a room and even a bed - - here at Elers' Dormitory. This is the alumni book, where you write down everyone who has lived here. Here we have it. In 1795 in number 254. Hans Christian Ørsted and Anders Sandøe Ørsted below. Together with his brother, he became a very central part of the Copenhagen academic elite in the early 19th century. They were both very ambitious. Ørsted actually wanted to be a chemist - - but chemistry was not a subject at university in the 18th century. The closest thing is the pharmacy trade. The pharmacy's pills and healing extracts are not enough of a challenge. On the side, he solves award-winning assignments in literature and medicine - - and publishes a journal with his brother. He also earned a doctorate in philosophy - - shortly after graduating as a pharmacist in 1797 with top marks. H.C. Ørsted is only in his early twenties. His head is full of big thoughts and revolutionary ideas. Especially the ideas of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. There is a connection between the true, the beautiful, and the good. They share a common divine source. Kant's thoughts were crucial for Ørsted's famous discovery. I would like to know how H.C. Ørsted thought. That's why I'm going to talk to a man named Dan Charly Christensen - - who is a huge Ørsted expert. Ørsted is very opinionated. He's been that way his whole life. He was very studious - - and he was highly gifted. He never doubted that he was the best thinker in a company. - Good morning. - Hello. H.C. Ørsted is greatly inspired by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. What is it from Kant that he uses in his scientific research? It's the basic idea that Kant says - - that the only thing we can sense about matter - - in goosebumps, because we don't know if it's matter - - is that if you press on something - - it gives resistance. You can't penetrate it. But if it were only made up of resistive forces... then it would expand infinitely, widen, and disappear. Therefore, there must also be an attractive force like the one - - Newton called gravity. It's like the magnets here. They are opposing, but here they gather. So nature is a jumble of opposing forces. Yes. Matter must be understood - - as a product of opposing forces. Four forces. Four fundamental forces. It's light, and it's heat - - and it's electricity, and it's magnetism. By adopting Kant's philosophy - - and pursuing the idea of these opposing forces - - and that nature was designed this way, is he a rebel? Is he a rebel in science? It's him. He is a one-man army. He has no disciples at this time. He is 21-22 years old and says: "Here we are down to some very basic questions - - that we have very little control over." Kant's philosophy has a decisive influence on Ørsted's life project - - to create a comprehensive explanation of chemistry and physics based on Kant's ideas. A theory that Ørsted calls his 'dynamic theory'. Fueled by the hope of finding the fundamental rules of the world - - young H.C. throws Ørsted was concerned about the cutting-edge research of his time. He experiments with the voltaic pile, which later leads to his discovery. It was a strange time of scientific ferment. New thoughts and ideas gave many great insights into a higher insight. Volta's electric pile made a definitive distinction between the natural sciences of the old and the new century . In 1800, the Italian Volta invented a device - - that could produce a different form of electricity than the static electricity - - that had been known since ancient times. I am at H.C. The Ørsted Institute at the University of Copenhagen - - where I have an appointment with two physicists, Jeppe and Cilie. They have promised to help me build a voltaic pile. Maybe I should also do some experiments on myself. That was done a lot back then, in Ørsted's time. - Hello. - Hello. - This is not a voltaic column, is it? - It's not, no. This is how electricity was made before the voltaic pile. - Okay. Can I see it? - Oops, that hit it. Instead of destroying Jeppe, let's build a voltaic pile. To build a voltaic pile, we need plates of two materials. You have a zinc plate on top, a copper plate on the bottom - - and then just layers. Yes. Copper, filter paper soaked in hydrochloric acid, zinc plate, and so on. Today we would call the voltaic pile a clumsy battery - - but just over 200 years ago the voltaic pile was enigmatic. It is one of the great challenges of our time to explain - - why an electric current flows from it. Around this time in the German city of Jena, there's a man, Johann Ritter... ... who's researching like crazy this new way of making electricity. Ritter is known for discovering ultraviolet light - - but also experiments with electricity on himself. Descriptions of his experiments reach Copenhagen. I actually didn't understand how he dared to expose himself to that. He took one conductor from the voltaic pile and placed it on the tongue. - In the name of science, Johan. - Yes, yes, damn it. When he grabbed the other leader, he got a jolt on the tongue, making his face shine. - Is this the one? - Yes. I could feel it. It was terrible. He discovered that one conductor tasted sour - - while the other had a distinctly alkaline taste. It's terrible. It was when he put the wire to the eyeball that the face shone brightest. There was a bright, clear flash of lightning... ... followed by an immediate and piercing pain around the eye. But that didn't worry Ritter. Because as he said: "I have two eyes, and I only experiment with one." There are many discoveries that have been made, especially in the last century, by experimenting on oneself. Good thing you've moved away from that. Whether Ritter's face really lit up, we don't know. He often exaggerated the experiments, which Ørsted recognizes too late. It will later cost H.C. Ørsted's defeat of a lifetime. After completing his education, he will have the opportunity to travel abroad - - where he will set out to make contact with the world's leading researchers. But the journey also instills in his mind the hottest idea of the time - - which will have great significance for his research, namely romanticism. At the National Gallery of Denmark you can see - - how Romanticism influenced art in the 19th century. But science was also encompassed by the ideas of Romanticism - - which spread like wildfire among intellectuals in the 19th century. The Romantic era, or the Golden Age, as we call that period in Denmark - - is a time that we usually associate with literary history - - or big, voluminous pictures like this. But it was also a time when bold political ideas emerged - - and when a completely new and revolutionary view of science was taken. Romanticism is a German phenomenon that grew out of their defeat by Napoleon and became very influential in northern Europe. For most, it is a search for the national and indigenous - - our past, our nature and spirit. Artists, poets and scientists search for beauty, truth - - and goodness in the soul of nature. The spirit with which God has enlivened the world. But the most radical romantics are against the use of reason. The world must be understood through emotions and not through logic. Johann Ritter is a romantic in every sense of the word - - and Ørsted steers his journey directly towards this experimental physicist. Ørsted becomes very fascinated by this scientist of the same age - - with his wild ideas, which excite Ørsted as well. He is not very critical. It was during his stay in Germany that he became a natural romantic. The Romantic wave that was just beginning in Germany in the 19th century - - changed his view of science, along with the interest - - he had from Kant already earlier. With the Germans' romantic view of nature in his luggage, Ørsted travels from there - - and on to Napoleon's Paris. But here the ideas of the Romantics are not received with quite the same enthusiasm. In France, the great scientific power at the time - - they had a mathematical physics where they formulated mathematical theories. Then Ørsted comes with his qualitative views from Copenhagen. It was difficult to take him seriously. In Paris, Ørsted tries to gain honor and glory for himself and Ritter - - by showcasing Ritter's experiment to the scientific elite. Now we're trying to hang the voltaic pile in the form of a double-layer battery - - to see if it orients itself to the Earth's electrical poles. - That's pure gibberish. - Yes, complete nonsense. The experiment was supposed to demonstrate that the Earth has an electric field - - with an electric north and south pole, as if the Earth were a big battery. Just like with a compass needle, the battery should behave in the same way. Ørsted's experiment at the Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters turns out disastrously. He's a firebrand, and it doesn't work. He becomes a laughing stock. Then he gets a good slap across the face... because he gets a kick out of the scientific community in Paris. If this were true, we could find the Earth's electrical plus pole - - and the electrical minus pole, take a wire and connect the two together - - and get free energy. That would be a big battery. You should try that. Disappointed and humiliated, he returns home to Denmark. He got a really bad reputation, which already reached Copenhagen. He was not welcomed with open arms. It was uphill - - when he came home and had to secure a position at the university. Back in Copenhagen, Ørsted must start from scratch in the university world. It was not until 1806 that he was appointed professor of physics at the University of Copenhagen. This includes a salary, the obligation to teach and money for experiments. It was important for him to popularize - - and promote natural science. I was lucky enough to receive a collection of electrical instruments. I began lecturing on electricity and magnetism. Yes, yes, yes. To create interest in physics and chemistry, he gives lectures to citizens, artists and interested parties. Here he shows experiments like this. Yes, yes. Today we would call Ørsted's lectures public education. I also talked about my dynamic theory. The theory of heat, light, combustion and chemistry - - which derive from the same forces as electricity and magnetism. Ørsted's dynamical theory is, like many other theories of the time - - a mixture of philosophy, religion, physics and chemistry. He believes that God has inspired humans and nature - - that you can find God's reason in nature, and that it is what you see - - when you experience physical phenomena. When Ørsted says that he is searching for reason, we can translate it as - - that he is searching for the fundamental laws of nature. What he's been looking for has been natural forces - - working together. He continued to work with ideas of unity. That there must be a connection between phenomena such as heat and reactions. Ørsted's dynamic theory would be called unscientific today. Yet it will lead him to one of science's greatest discoveries. But only in a few years. Meanwhile, life goes on for Ørsted, who starts a family at the age of 37. In 1814, H.C. Ørsted married Inger Birgitte Ballum. They have seven children. The economy is not too good - - and they move into Nørregade just around the corner from the university. The area had been bombed to pieces by the English in 1807. The university was under reconstruction for many years. During that time he actively participated in Danish cultural life - - reviewing literature and inventing more than 2000 new Danish words - - in an attempt to spread the Danish language at the university. - Whale. Butterfly. - The word parachute. It's like with Nynorsk. He searched for roots in the old Nordic. It's a time-wasting feat to speak Latin. Also heat and density and other scientific concepts. He uses his influence to help young talents advance - - among others H.C. Andersen. Ørsted has really meant a lot - - to many young people - - whom he supported and gave his trust and helped along the way. Ørsted was a very generous person. While taking care of teaching and research, Professor Ørsted is trying to gain political influence. He works diligently to bring focus to the possibilities of natural science. He believes that knowledge of physics and chemistry can help the Danish economy - - and suggests to Frederik VI that he create an institute for experimental science. But the idea is met with resistance from the rest of the university. In Ørsted's time, natural sciences played very little role at the University of Copenhagen. It was theology and law that filled almost the entire thing. Physics and chemistry were of no use. But soon Ørsted gains the power to overcome the resistance - - and fundamentally change the Danish university. The time is approaching when he will make the greatest discovery of his life. The year 1820 was the happiest of my life. Then I discovered the magnetic effect of electricity. In Ørsted's time, physicists believed it was wishful thinking to imagine a connection between electricity and magnetism. But according to Ørsted's theory, there must be one. The question is just which one. It is no coincidence that Ørsted discovered electromagnetism. He has been searching for it and has been convinced that there must be a connection between electricity and magnetism. I had already predicted many years earlier... that electricity and magnetism are produced by the same forces. But so far, no one had found the decisive evidence. The first time he demonstrates that electric current can affect a magnetic needle... is at a public lecture. But afterwards he carefully examines the phenomenon in the laboratory. Many had been looking for the magnetic effect - - in the same direction as electric current. But I assumed that the magnetism might radiate out to the sides. A bit like a light from a light source. Now he has discovered a previously overlooked law of nature: that an electric current sets a magnet in motion - - just as his dynamic theory had predicted. He has achieved a scientific goal. He is the first to study - - details of the behavior of the magnetic needle in relation to the direction of the current. It took me many days of experimentation before I discovered the law - - how the compass needle behaves in relation to the direction of the current. But as soon as I had figured it out, I wrote a short text - - which I sent out to the most important scientific places in Europe. Ørsted's discovery revolutionizes science - - just as the voltaic pile did 20 years earlier. Scientists are throwing themselves into magnets and electrical wires. Soon it will be discovered that the effect goes both ways - - and that magnets can create current in wires like in modern power plants. It is a redress, especially in France. There he had been mocked. He was invited to Paris, among other places, but especially to England. He becomes a foreign member of the Royal Society - - which is a huge honor at the time. It still is today. It's even finer than the Nobel Prize. In Denmark, the discovery played almost no role. No one understood what it was all about. No one clapped their little hands at the discovery itself - - but at the foreign fame that followed the discovery. Ørsted's discovery makes him famous abroad and influential at home. He becomes Denmark's world-famous researcher. He becomes part of the University of Copenhagen's management - - and rector of the university from 1825-1826. He establishes the Society for the Propagation of Natural Science and becomes a member of the Danish Parliament. In 1825, he was the first to discover the element aluminum - - but there were plenty of triumphs ahead. Ørsted has long sought better conditions for natural science in Denmark. He believes it will strengthen the nation. One people will never be able to reach another by simply imitating. If you want to stand next to them, you will have to invent yourself. Otherwise, we will always be a generation behind. He is working to establish an educational institution for citizens - - who can benefit from chemistry and physics. In 1829 he succeeded. Thanks to Ørsted Polytechnic University, we get what we know today as DTU, the Technical University of Denmark. It is in Studiestræde that the first Polytechnic Institute is located. Ørsted is a director and lives on the first and second floors. In the years to come, Ørsted would be appointed Knight of the Grand Cross. Shortly before his death, one of his great projects - - which he had been working on since 1808 - was realized: the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen - - was established in 1850. Excuse me, but what on earth is all that electricity used for? For everything possible. Heat, lights, computers - - vacuum cleaners, blenders, hair dryers... Hair dryers? Really? And heat and light? So heat and light are the same as electricity and magnetism? You can't set it up like that. The point is that the entire society is electrified. There is electricity everywhere. Everyone uses it constantly. We are deeply dependent on it. I had no idea that my discovery could be used for that. His influence simply cannot be overstated. I would even say... He is often compared to other luminaries - - Niels Bohr for example, Tycho sometimes... Bohr had a colossal influence, but Ørsted's influence was greater. You could say that he certainly sought power - - but he didn't do it for the sake of power, but to use it - - to accomplish the things he believed in. All in all, H.C. gets Ørsted was a success in its own time. Ørsted's discovery is the entire foundation of modern technological society. Danish texts: Mikkel Holst Danish Video Text Pr.nr.: 83-146103 Great scientists: Ørsted - TTV DVT/MHO/OG