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the past one hundred and fifty years, has changed the western
world more than the entire cultural development from the Stone
Age to the beginning of the nineteenth century. This period can be
called the age of changes.
The title of this book refers to the beginning of the enormous
development of physics, chemistry, and mathematics at Copen
hagen University from the early years of the 19th century when
H. C. Oersted in 1800 was attached to the university. The first Che
mical university laboratory in “Skidenstræde” , (i. e. Filthy Lane)
was established in 1778 (shown on the front o f the jacket) and
gradually Oersted succeeded in getting better laboratories, and he
was at the forefront of physics and chemistry until his death in
1851. This is followed by an account of the development up to the
present day. By now (1964) all university departments of physics,
chemistry, and mathematics, formerly scattered about the town,
have been brought together in larger and better laboratories in the
H. C. Oersted Institute, a picture of which is to be seen on the back
of the jacket. The institute is named after H. C. Oersted, who in
1820 formulated his discovery of electromagnetism, a “Nobel Prize
Effect” in modern terminology. A portrait of Oersted at that time
is shown as a frontispiece.
Part one. Page g
Copenhagen University, which will soon be 500 years old, was
inaugurated as a Catholic clerical school on June 1, 1479 under
King Christian I. After the Reformation in Denmark in 1536 and a
little later in Norway the University charter was altered. Records
are given of the professors of physics, chemistry, and mathematics
between 1550 and 1800 attached to Copenhagen University, the
one and only university of Denmark and Norway. Of the three
subjects, mathematics was the most advanced. Physics and especi-
ally chemistry, under which subjects the professors often had to
teach other subjects as well in Scandinavia as elsewhere were sub
sidiary subjects to medicine and pharmacy.
The organization of the University and Danish secondary school
education and preparation for university studies in science are
dealt with in a short survey.
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