Sophus Henrichsen
Who was Sophus Henrichsen?
Norwegian physicist (1845-1928)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Sophus Henrichsen (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Sophus Septimus Henrichsen was born on 12 November 1845 in Kragerø, Norway, to Johan Georg Henrichsen, an office manager, and Sophie Septima Moe. He pursued further scientific studies abroad from 1878 to 1879 in Berlin and Leipzig, working with the well-known physicist Gustav Wiedemann. This time in Germany exposed him to the leading experimental and theoretical methods, shaping his future research career. He completed his degree at the University of Kristiania, which remained key to his professional life.
After graduating, Henrichsen joined the University of Kristiania as an assistant in the physics department, supporting research and teaching at a leading academic institution in Norway. He also taught at several well-known private schools in the capital, including Nissen's and Aars and Voss' schools, gaining a reputation as a skilled and dedicated science teacher. In 1890, he secured a teaching position at the Oslo technical school, where he stayed until his retirement in 1920, marking 30 years of commitment to technical and scientific education.
Henrichsen's research focused on the physical properties of matter, including the specific heat of water, and extended to studying organic compounds and their magnetic properties. His wide-ranging studies placed him among those involved in precise experimental physics in late nineteenth-century Europe. He balanced these research interests alongside his busy teaching schedule, exemplifying the dual role of educator and scientist that many university physicists of his time held.
Beyond his work in the lab and classroom, Henrichsen contributed significantly to Norwegian scientific communication. In 1896, he helped set up the journal Nyt Tidsskrift for Fysik og Kemi, aiming to bring updates in physics and chemistry to a Norwegian-speaking audience. He also wrote several high school textbooks, influencing how physics was taught at the secondary level in Norway during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Henrichsen married Julie Adolfine Marie Forsberg in 1873, and they shared life together throughout his long career. He died in Oslo on 21 December 1928 at the age of eighty-three. In a final gesture of their dedication to science, he and his wife left their savings to the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo, providing lasting financial support for the field he had devoted his life to.
Before Fame
Sophus Henrichsen grew up in Kragerø, a coastal town in Telemark county, during a time when Norway was building its educational and scientific institutions after entering a union with Sweden in 1814. At mid-century, Norway offered limited advanced scientific training, so ambitious young scientists often sought education abroad. Following this common route, Henrichsen went to Germany in the late 1870s to study in Berlin and Leipzig under Gustav Wiedemann, a leading figure in experimental physics and the study of heat and electricity.
When he returned to Norway with his German university training, he was among the few scientifically educated professionals staffing the country's universities and technical schools. The University of Kristiania, founded in 1811, was the main center of higher learning in Norway. Henrichsen began working there as an amanuensis before moving into secondary and technical school teaching. This combination of university work and teaching at elite preparatory schools was typical for Norwegian scientists of his generation, who worked in a relatively small national academic field.
Key Achievements
- Founded and organized the scientific journal Nyt Tidsskrift for Fysik og Kemi in 1896
- Authored multiple physics textbooks adopted at the Norwegian high school level
- Conducted research on the specific heat of water and the magnetic properties of organic compounds
- Served as amanuensis in the physics department at the University of Kristiania
- Bequeathed personal wealth jointly with his wife to the University of Oslo Department of Physics
Did You Know?
- 01.Henrichsen studied under Gustav Wiedemann, the German physicist best known for co-formulating the Wiedemann-Franz law relating thermal and electrical conductivity in metals.
- 02.He founded the journal Nyt Tidsskrift for Fysik og Kemi in 1896, one of the early dedicated periodicals for physics and chemistry published in the Norwegian language.
- 03.His middle name, Septimus, and his mother's middle name, Septima, both derive from the Latin word for seven, suggesting a family tradition linked to a seventh birth or similar naming convention.
- 04.Henrichsen and his wife Julie left their entire estate to the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo, an uncommon act of private patronage toward a public scientific institution in early twentieth-century Norway.
- 05.He taught at the Oslo technical school for thirty consecutive years, from 1890 to 1920, spanning a period that saw electricity and modern industrial technology transform Norwegian society.