Johan Jakob Nervander (23 February 1805 – 15 March 1848) was a Finnish poet, physicist and meteorologist. He was born to Johan Nervander, a pharmacist in

Uusikaupunki Uusikaupunki (; sv, Nystad, ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region, northwest of Turku and south of Pori. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is inland wate ...

, and his wife Beata Bergbom. In 1820 Nervander became a student at the

Royal Academy of Turku The Royal Academy of Turku or the Royal Academy of Åbo ( sv, Kungliga Akademin i Åbo or ; la, Regia Academia Aboensis; fi, Turun akatemia) was the first university in Finland, and the only Finnish university that was founded when the country ...

where he was a friend of

Johan Ludvig Runeberg Johan Ludvig Runeberg (; 5 February 1804 – 6 May 1877) was a Finnish priest, lyric and epic poet. He wrote exclusively in Swedish. He is considered a national poet of Finland. He is the author of the lyrics to (''Our Land'', ''Maamme'' in Fin ...

. During the period 1832-1836 Nervander went on a long journey to central and southern Europe, by a scholarship for travelling awarded by the

. During this journey he became interested in geomagnetism upon meeting

Wilhelm Eduard Weber Wilhelm Eduard Weber (; ; 24 October 1804 – 23 June 1891) was a German physicist and, together with Carl Friedrich Gauss, inventor of the first electromagnetic telegraph. Biography of Wilhelm Early years Weber was born in Schlossstrasse in ...

and

Carl Friedrich Gauss Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; german: Gauß ; la, Carolus Fridericus Gauss; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and science. Sometimes refer ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

on his travels in Central Europe. From

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

he returned to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

through

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. In Saint Petersburg he met the academician

Adolph Theodor Kupffer Adolph Theodor Kupffer ForMemRS (17 January 1799 Jelgava – 4 June 1865) was a Baltic German (subject of Russian Empire) chemist, and physicist. He founded the Depot of Standard Weights and Measures, and the main physical Observatory in Russia. ...

the director of

Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

who supported Nervander's idea to have a magnetic observatory established in Helsinki. The new, necessary houses were built in

Kaisaniemi Park Kaisaniemi park ( fi, Kaisaniemen puisto, sv, Kajsaniemiparken) is a popular park, in the center of Helsinki, in the region of Kluuvi. The Kaisaniemi Park was named after Catharina "Cajsa" Wahllund.Suomen kansallisbiografia (National Biography o ...

, Helsinki, and Nervander was appointed the first director of the observatory. Starting from 1844, the Helsinki data series (1844-1912) is one of the oldest systematic geomagnetic observation series in the world. In 1846 he was appointed professor in physics at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

succeeding Gustaf Gabriel Hällström. In 1848 he fell ill with smallpox and died in the same year. After Nervander's death Henrik Gustaf Borenius continued as director at the observatory.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nervander, Johan Jakob 1805 births 1848 deaths Demidov Prize laureates Geophysicists Academic staff of the University of Helsinki