Svante Arrhenius

1859–1927.

Physicist, chemist.

Svante Arrhenius was born at Wiks Castle outside Uppsala where his father was a trustee.

He was one of the foremost natural scientists of his time and received the first Swedish Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1903 for his efforts regarding the electrolytic Dissociation theory from 1887. It changed all the chemists perceptions of acids, bases and salts.

From the mid-1890s, Arrhenius's interest was extended to geophysics and cosmic physics. He regarded himself as a physicist, but his main findings mainly concerned chemistry.

From 1905, Arrhenius was the director of the Nobel Institute for Physical Chemistry (Academy) in the same year.

Also as a popular science writer, Arrhenius was internationally known among other things through the release of the development of the Worlds (1906), Man in the face of the World Riddle (1907), Smallpox and their suppression (1930), The Fates of the Stars (1915) and The chemistry and Modern Life (1919).

 

Burial site: 0152-0062

Image description: Svante Arrhenius, unknown year. Photo: Unknown photographer / Technical museum. [The image is cropped]
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Anders Jonas Ångström

1814–1874.

Physicist.

Anders Jonas Ångström is best known as one of the founders of the optical spectroscopy.

Ångström was the first to observe the spectrum of hydrogen, an observation that formed the basis of the Balmers formula and thus constituted the experimental basis for Bohr's atomic theory.

Ångström studied the solar spectrum in depth, especially the lines of Frauhofer. The Recherches sur le spectre sunaire Study (1868) contained a precise determination of the wavelengths of the lines of Fraunhofer. In addition, Ångström made regular observations in several locations to provide a basis for the complete production of magnetic conditions in Sweden.

Ångström was also the first to investigate the northern lights spectroscopally. The unit for light wavelength, corresponding to 0.1 nanometers, was adopted as an international unit and was named Angstrom.

Anders Ångström was Professor of physics in 1858 – 1874 and was elected to the Academy of Sciences in 1850.

1996 the Ångström laboratory was inaugurated at Polacksbacken, where a number of science disciplines related to physics and chemistry have been given their research centres.

 

Burial site: 0113-0666

Image description: Professor A.J. Ångström, 1862. Photo: Mathias Hansen / UUB.  [The image is cropped]
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