Hans Christian Ørsted and the Romantic Legacy in Science

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. The Way From Nature To God

   • Andrew D. Wilson

   Pages 1-11

3. The Other Side Of Ørsted: Civil Obedience

   • Karen Jelved, Andrew D. Jackson

   Pages 13-19

4. The Making Of A Danish Kantian: Science And The New Civil Society

   • Arne Hessenbruch

   Pages 21-54

5. Phrenology And Danish Romanticism

   • Anja Skaar Jacobsen

   Pages 55-74

6. Natural Ends And The End Of Nature

   • Paul Guyer

   Pages 75-96

7. The Influence Of Kant's Philosophy On The Young H. C. Ørsted

   • Keld Nielsen, Hanne Andersen

   Pages 97-114

8. Ørsted's Concept Of Force And Theory Of Music

   • Dan Charly Christensen

   Pages 115-133

9. Kant—Naturphilosophie—Electromagnetism

   • Michael Friedman

   Pages 135-158

10. Steffens, Ørsted, And The Chemical Construction Of The Earth

    • Ernst P. Hamm

    Pages 159-175

11. The Culture Of Science And Experiments In Jena Around 1800

    • Olaf Breidbach

    Pages 177-216

12. The Romantic Experiment As Fragment

    • Robert Michael Brain

    Pages 217-233

13. Ørsted And The Rational Unconscious

    • Lorraine J. Daston

    Pages 235-246

14. Romanticism And Resistance: Humboldt And “German” Natural Philosophy In Napoleonic France

    • Michael Dettelbach

    Pages 247-258

15. Between Enlightenment And Romanticism: The Case Of Dr. Thomas Beddoes

    • Trevor H. Levere

    Pages 259-272

16. Ørsted's Presentation Of Others'—And His Own—Work

    • Kenneth L. Caneva

    Pages 273-338

17. Ørsted, Ritter, And Magnetochemistry

    • Roberto de Andrade Martins

    Pages 339-385

18. Ørsted's Work On The Compressibility Of Liquids And Gases, And His Dynamic Theory Of Matter

    • Ole Knudsen

    Pages 387-398

19. Hans Christian Ørsted's Spiritual Interpretation Of Natural Science

    • Frederick Gregory

    Pages 399-416

20. The Spiritual In The Material

    • D. M. Knight

    Pages 417-432

This volume owes its origin to the perception of a puzzling paradox. Hans Christian Ørsted, the great Danish scientist and philosopher, was one of the founders of modern physics through his experimental discovery in 1820 of the interaction of electricity and magnetism—a key step and model for the further unification of the forces of nature. Followers such as Maxwell and Einstein were, and today searchers worldwide are, enchanted by the hope for a completion of that grand program. In addition to Ørsted’s discovery of electromagnetism, his work in science included other fields, chiefly high-pressure physics and acoustics. Moreover, he belonged to that fascinating group of seekers who were deeply engaged in the Romantic tradition of the Nature Philosophers, influenced by Immanuel Kant and by religious, literary, and aesthetic currents. The scientific and philosophical speculations by Ørsted and his circle also quickly stimulated the imagination of other philosophers and scientists. Among the latter were prominently André-Marie Ampère and Michael Faraday, whose work launched the transformation of civilization often called the Second Ind- trial Revolution, based on the invention of motors, generators, and the pervasi- ness of electricity in modern life.

• Immanuel Kant
• Kant
• enlightenment
• romanticism
• science

• Harvard University, USA

  Robert Michael Brain

• Boston University, USA

  Robert S. Cohen

• University of Aarhus, Denmark

  Ole Knudsen

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