Hans Christian Ørsted (
1777-
1851) was a
physicist and
chemist of
Denmark, influenced by the thinking of
Kant. In
1820 he discovered the relationship between
electricity and
magnetism in a very simple experiment. He demonstrated that a wire carrying a current was able to deflect a magnetised compass needel. Ørsted did not suggest any satisfactory explanation of the phenomena, nor did he try to represent the phenomena in mathematical framework.
In 1825 he made a significant contribution to chemistry by producing aluminum for the first time.
See also James Maxwell, physics.