Hans Christian Ørsted - Danish physicist and chemist, Ørsted also spelled Oersted.

Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric current in a wire can deflect a magnetized compass needle, a phenomenon the importance of which was rapidly recognized and which inspired the development of electromagnetic theory.


Hans Christian Ørsted (14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist who is best known for discovering that electric currents can create magnetic fields, which is an important part of electromagnetism. He shaped post-Kantian philosophy and advances in science throughout the late 19th century.[1] He was also the first modern thinker to explicitly describe and name the thought experiment.


Ørsted developed his interest in science while working as a young boy for his father, Søren Christian Ørsted, who owned a pharmacy. He and his brother, Anders Sandøe Ørsted, received most of their early education through self-study at home, leaving home for Copenhagen in 1793 to take entrance exams for the University of Copenhagen. The brothers passed and distinguished themselves academically at the University. By 1796, Ørsted received honours for his papers in both aesthetics and physics.
In 1801, Hans received a travel scholarship and public grant that enabled him to spend three years travelling in Europe. In Germany, he met Johann Wilhelm Ritter, a physicist who believed there was a connection between electricity and magnetism. The connection made sense to Ørsted since he believed in the unity of nature, and, therefore, that a relationship must exist between most natural phenomena.
Their conversations drew Ørsted into the study of physics. He became a professor at the University of Copenhagen in 1806 and continued his research with electric currents and acoustics. Under his guidance, the University developed a comprehensive physics and chemistry program and established new laboratories.