Birkeland, Kristian (People)
Birkeland, Kristian
Kristian Birkeland (1867-1917), a Norwegian physicist who in 1903, along with Samuel Eyde, developed an electric-arc process (the Birkeland-Eyde process) for nitrogen fixation, one of the first processes used in the large-scale manufacture of nitrogen fertilizer from atmospheric nitrogen. Birkeland is also recognized among the early pioneers of plasma physics and space physics. He is famous for his early and prescient explanation of the aurora borealis in terms of energetic particles from the solar wind interacting with the Earth's magnetosphere. Based on results from his Norwegian Polar Expedition, conducted from 1899 to 1900, Birkeland was the first to determine the global pattern of electric currents in the polar region from ground magnetic field measurements.
Further Reading
Three Remarkable Men (Norsk Hydro)
The Quest for the Northern Lights
