Svein Rosseland
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Svein Rosseland (March 31, 1894, in
Kvam Kvam is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger settle ...
,
Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is l ...
– January 19, 1985, in
Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...
) was a
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...
astrophysicist and a pioneer in the field of
theoretical astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the hea ...
.


Biography

Svein Rosseland was born in
Kvam Kvam is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger settle ...
, in
Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is l ...
, Norway. Rosseland grew up the youngest of nine siblings. He went to his final exams in
Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...
in 1917 and then went to the
University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
. After only three semesters at the University he left in 1919 to work as an assistant professor with the meteorologist
Vilhelm Bjerknes Vilhelm Friman Koren Bjerknes ( , ; 14 March 1862 – 9 April 1951) was a Norwegian physicist and meteorologist who did much to found the modern practice of weather forecasting. He formulated the primitive equations that are still in use in num ...
at the
Bergen School of Meteorology __NOTOC__ The "Bergen School of Meteorology" is a school of thought which is the basis for much of modern weather forecasting. Founded by the meteorologist Prof. Vilhelm Bjerknes and his younger colleagues in 1917, the Bergen School attempts to de ...
. In 1920 he went to the Institute of Physics (now the
Niels Bohr Institute The Niels Bohr Institute (Danish: ''Niels Bohr Institutet'') is a research institute of the University of Copenhagen. The research of the institute spans astronomy, geophysics, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum mechanics and biophysics. ...
) in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, where he met
Niels Bohr Niels Henrik David Bohr (; 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. B ...
and other prominent physicists, and where he wrote two seminal papers. He spent 1924–1926 as a Rockefeller Fellow at the
Mount Wilson Observatory The Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The MWO is located on Mount Wilson, a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, northeast of Los Angeles. The observat ...
in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...
. In 1927, Rosseland earned a PhD. from the University of Oslo. As a professor at the University of Oslo from 1928 to 1964, he built up and headed academics at the
Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics The Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics (Norwegian: ''Institutt for teoretisk astrofysikk'', abbreviated ''ITA'') is a research and teaching institute dedicated to astronomy, astrophysics and solar physics located at Blindern in Oslo, Norway ...
(''Institutt for Teoretisk Astrofysikk''). Rosseland was a key participant when the University of Oslo built the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics in 1934, using funding from the
Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...
. Between 1929-30 he was a guest professor at the
Harvard College Observatory The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United St ...
. In 1934 he founded the journal ''Astrophysics Norvegica'', published by the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Univer ...
. In 1936 he published his textbook ''Theoretical Astrophysics'', which contained numerous original contributions. Rosseland was instrumental in the effort behind the building of the
Oslo Analyzer The Oslo Analyzer (1938 – 1954) was a mechanical analog differential analyzer, a type of computer, built in Norway from 1938 to 1942. It was the largest computer of its kind in the world when completed. The differential analyzer was based o ...
, finished in 1938 and for four years the world's most powerful
differential analyzer The differential analyser is a mechanical analogue computer designed to solve differential equations by integration, using wheel-and-disc mechanisms to perform the integration. It was one of the first advanced computing devices to be used operati ...
. With the
German occupation of Norway in World War II The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...
, he fled the country and went to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
where he was appointed professor at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
. In 1943 he went to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to work with the development of
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
by the British Air Defense Ministry and later at the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
, where he worked on underwater explosions. He was also a consultant for the U.S. Time Corporation, a company that later evolved into the Norwegian-owned company
Timex Group USA Timex Group USA, Inc. (formerly known as Timex Corporation) is an American global watch manufacturing company founded in 1854 as the Waterbury Clock Company in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1944, the company became insolvent but was reformed into ...
. In the war's final years, he worked on military research at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Rosseland returned to Norway in 1946. In the postwar period he was involved in the development of the Norwegian research policy and was among those involved in the creation of the
Institute for Energy Technology Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) was established in 1948 as the Institute for Nuclear Energy (IFA). The name was changed in 1980. Its main office is at Kjeller, Norway, and slightly under half of the institute’s activities are based in Ha ...
which was established in 1948 and
Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences ( no, Norges Tekniske Vitenskapsakademi, NTVA) is a learned society based in Trondheim, Norway. Founded in 1955, the academy has about 500 members. It is a member of the International Council of Aca ...
which was founded during 1955. He was also the driving force behind the creation of
Harestua Solar Observatory Harestua Solar Observatory ( no, Solobservatoriet på Harestua) is a solar observatory near Harestua in the municipality of Lunner, Oppland, Norway. It was used for solar research purposes from 1954 to 1986, and was subordinated the University ...
located at Gunnarshaugen in
Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...
, which was inaugurated in 1954. Rosseland was Norwegian delegate to the CERN Council in the early days of the organization.


Legacy

In 1957 he was decorated Commander of the
Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...
. The minor planet 1646 Rosseland and the lunar crater '' Rosseland'' are named after him, as is the
Rosseland mean opacity Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation, especially visible light. In radiative transfer, it describes the absorption and scattering of radiation in a transmission mediu ...
. The Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo is housed in "Svein Rosseland's House". In honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Svein Rosseland Centenary Symposium was held at the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Univer ...
in Oslo during June 1994. A bust of him was also erected at
Steinsdalsfossen Steinsdalsfossen (also called ''Øvsthusfossen'' or ''Øfsthusfossen'') is a waterfall in the village of Steine in the municipality of Kvam in Vestland county, Norway. The waterfall is located about west of the large village of Norheimsund whic ...
near his home in
Norheimsund Norheimsund is the administrative centre of the municipality of Kvam in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern side of the Hardangerfjord, about from the city of Bergen. The village of Øystese lies about to the northeas ...
. ''Svein Rosseland centenary symposium'' (Frontiers of astrophysics)
/ref>


Selected works

*''On the Internal Constitution of the Stars'', 1925 *''The Principle of Quantum Theory'', 1930 *''On the Stability of Gaseous Stars'', 1931 * ''Astrophysik auf atomtheoretischer Grundlage'', 1931 * ''Theoretical Astrophysics'', 1936 * ''Jorda og universet. Matematisk geografi'', 1940 * ''The Pulsation Theory of Variable Stars'', 1949


Notes


References

*Randers, G. ''Svein Rosseland 50 År'' ( Norsk Populær-Astronomisk Tidsskrift, vol. 3, pp. 33–35, 1945) *Randers, G. ''Rosseland, Svein'' (Norwegian Biographical Lexicon, vol. 12, pp. 1–2, 1946) *Randers, G. and M. Schwarzschild ''Professor Svein Rosseland'' (Astrophysics Norvegica, vol. 9, pp. 7–9, 1964) * Elgarøy, Ø. and Ø. Hauge, ''Svein Rosseland. Fra hans liv og virke'' (Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, Univ. of Oslo, 1994) * Holst, Per A. ''Svein Rosseland and the Oslo Analyzer'' (IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 18(4):16-26, 1996)


External links


Solobservatoriet på Harestua
* ttp://www.uio.no/for-ansatte/organisasjon/adm/ta/prosjekter/avsluttede-prosjekter/rosseland.html Svein Rosselands hus {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosseland, Svein 1894 births 1985 deaths People from Kvam People associated with CERN Norwegian astronomers 20th-century astronomers Rockefeller Fellows Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Members of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences