Oersted, Hans Christian

Oersted or Ørsted, Hans Christian, 1777-1851, Danish physicist and chemist. He was professor at Copenhagen from 1806. His discovery (1819) that a magnetic needle is deflected at right angles to a conductor carrying an electric current established a relationship between magnetism and electricity and initiated the study of electromagnetism. In 1825 his attempt to isolate aluminum succeeded in producing an impure form of the metal. The unit of magnetic field strength is named for him.

(born Aug. 14, 1777, Rudkøbing, Den.—died March 9, 1851, Copenhagen) Danish physicist and chemist. In 1820 he discovered that electric current in a wire can deflect a magnetized compass needle, a phenomenon that inspired the development of electromagnetic theory. His 1820 discovery of piperine, one of the pungent components of pepper, was an important contribution to chemistry, as was his preparation of metallic aluminum in 1825. In 1824 he founded a society devoted to the spread of scientific knowledge among the general public. In 1932 the oersted was adopted as the physical unit of magnetic field strength.

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Hans-Christian Ströbele is a German politician and lawyer. He is a member of the German Green party.

Born 7 June 1939 in Halle (Saale); married. Graduated from grammar school in Marl (Westfalen). Studied law in Heidelberg and at the Free University of Berlin. Has practiced law since 1969 in Berlin. He was a member of the "Socialist Lawyers' Collective" for ten years, and has defended political criminals for thirty years, including members of the terrorist Red Army Faction.

In the late 1960s he was involved in the student movement. From 1970 to 1974, he was a member of the SPD. He co-founded the "Alternative List for Democracy and Environmental Protection," a predecessor to the Berlin chapter of the Greens. He was a member of the Bundestag from 31 March 1985 until 1987 and has been a member again since 1998. In 2002, he became the first Green politician ever to be directly elected to the Bundestag when he received a plurality of the votes in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district. He was reelected in 2005. He is one of the vice-leaders of the Green caucus in the Bundestag and among the most prominent politicians belonging to the "Fundi" wing of the party.

He is the nephew of the popular former German football commentator Herbert Zimmermann.

External links

• Website from Hans-Christian Ströbele
• Biography from German Bundestag