Makers of Electricity

by Brother Potamian; James J. Walsh

When penning these words, the representative of the British government must have forgotten the experience of 1812, when the result of the battle of Salamanca was semaphored from Plymouth to London, on which occasion a fog cut off the message after the transmission of the first two words, "Wellington defeated," the remainder of the despatch, "the French at Salamanca," reaching the capital only on the following morning!

A rapid sketch of the life of our philosopher, whose discovery of the magnetic effect of the voltaic current in 1820 led to the invention of the electric telegraph, cannot be without interest.

Hans Christian Oersted was born on August 14th, 1777, in the little town of Rudkjöbing, in the island of Langeland, Denmark. Being the son of poor parents, his early years were spent in very narrow circumstances. He and his younger brother were mainly indebted to their own efforts for whatever instruction they received in the rudiments of learning. The town in which they lived being small, offered few opportunities for education, even if the family exchequer had been such as to permit the boys to take advantage of them. There was a German wigmaker in the place, however, who was a little more advanced in knowledge than the generality of the townspeople. He and his wife liked the Oersted boys, who were very frequently to be found in the wigmaker's shop. The good housewife taught them to read, while the artist himself taught them a little German. Hans Christian advanced so rapidly in his studies that he acquired a reputation for precociousness, which, with the usual prejudice against bright children, made the neighbors shake their heads prophetically and say: "The child will not live; he is too bright to last long."

Hans Christian learned the elements of arithmetic from an old school-book which he picked up by chance; and no sooner had he advanced a little, than he set about instructing his brother. Very probably, the teacher benefited quite as much by this process of instruction as the pupil. Adversity is a good school for the formation of character as well as for the acquisition of knowledge. It is evident, from the lives of such men as Oersted, Faraday, Kepler, Ohm, and others who were brought up in the lap of poverty, that it is not so much educational opportunity that is needed for the development of mind which we call education, as the earnest determination and the abiding desire to have it. Even boyhood creates its own opportunities for education despite intervening obstacles, if it has only a decided eagerness, a pronounced thirst for knowledge.

About the time that the young Oersteds entered their teens, their father secured the services of a private teacher to give them some instruction in the rudiments of Latin and Greek. This accidental preceptor was only a wandering student who happened to be in the place at the time; but the boys, in their eagerness to learn, derived more benefit from his lessons than many boys of their age often do nowadays from the help and encouragement of a carefully selected and academically equipped tutor.

At the age of twelve, Oersted senior was taken into his father's apothecary-shop in quality of assistant, a position which seemed destined to put an end to all opportunities for further advancement in the path of learning. When a boy goes into a drug-store in an official capacity, his future career is usually settled; he is a druggist to the end. His new avocation, however, proved to be the beginning of new intellectual activities for Oersted. The chemical side of his work became a source of new information to him, and also a stimulus to learn all that he could of chemistry and kindred subjects. Science became a hobby with the young apothecary, and everything relating to it appealed to him. What Hans learned, he as usual imparted to his brother, who was already becoming interested in other departments of learning, especially the law.

The desire of the boys to advance grew with their stock of knowledge. Accordingly, when, in 1794, Hans was only seventeen years of age and his brother sixteen, they both matriculated at the University of Copenhagen. Their father was able to help them but little, so that they were obliged to live quietly and sparingly, a condition distinctly favorable to consecutive and efficient study. They became so successful in their pursuits that they soon began to attract attention. Having passed creditable examinations, they were recommended for pecuniary assistance from an educational fund established by the government for the purpose. Even then, as receipts were hardly equal to expenses, they sought to increase their little revenue by giving private lessons in their leisure hours. Here we have a striking example of what may be accomplished by men who work their way through College in the teeth of adverse circumstances; in these two brothers, we have proof of the truth that it is the student's mind, his willingness and determination to work, that count in education more than the golden opportunities that may fall to his lot.

In the year 1799, Oersted prepared a thesis on "The Architectonics of Natural Metaphysics," which won for him his Doctorate in Philosophy. Though the young Doctor did not hesitate to discuss metaphysical problems and even to disagree with Kant at a time when most Teutonic minds were deeply under the influence of the philosopher of Königsberg, his chief interests, however, centered in the experimental sciences, in physics and chemistry.

In spite of his devotedness to science, Oersted allowed himself, by way of distraction, an occasional excursion into the field of literature. A great literary and artistic movement was making itself felt in the northern part of Europe at the time. The æsthetic awakening of the Teutonic nations had come after three centuries of religious and political unrest, ill adapted to intellectual development. Lessing and Winkelmann, Goethe and Schiller, the two Schlegels and Klopstock as well as the young poets, Uhland and Koerner, were either already at work or were about to enter on their distinguished careers, and the neighboring Scandinavian nations were beginning to be seriously affected by the movement which was going on among their brethren. In the third year of his university course, Oersted entered the lists as a competitor for literary honors on the question, "What are the Limits of Prose and Poetry?" and had the satisfaction of winning the gold medal offered for the contest. In spite of this episode, indicative of devotedness to the muses, Oersted passed a brilliant pharmaceutical examination; and in the following year succeeded in capturing another prize, this time for a medical essay.

After such a period of preparation, it might be expected that a brilliant career would open up for Oersted; but, unfortunately, he could not afford to wait for slow academic rewards, as it was absolutely necessary for him to set about earning his livelihood. For this purpose, shortly after graduation, he accepted the position of manager of a drug-store. As the salary attached to the office was rather slender, he increased his resources by giving lectures in the evening on the familiar subjects of chemistry, natural philosophy and metaphysics.