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Throughout the ages, the lights of the aurora
borealis were believed to be messengers of gods,
signs of apocalypse, or souls of the dead; even the
most sophisticated scientists misapprehended their
cause. Now Lucy Jago tells the story of the
science—and the romance—behind the
Northern Lights as she traces the grand adventure of
the life of the visionary Norwegian scientist
Kristian Birkeland.
At the age of thirty-one,
Birkeland set out on a lifelong, increasingly
compulsive quest to discover the origins of the
aurora borealis. He traveled across some of the most
forbidding landscapes on Earth, from the ice
mountains of Norway to the deserts of Africa,
against a backdrop of war and political upheaval.
Along the way, Birkeland made some remarkable
discoveries and inventions, such as the idea of
hearing aids for deaf patients;
of making caviar
from cod roe; and of using the force of cathode rays
to propel rockets. No country’s armed forces
ever adopted his electromagnetic cannon, but the
technology has since been adapted and extended to
make “railguns” (electromagnetic mass
accelerators) for the American Strategic Defense
Initiative—the so-called “Star
Wars” Defense.
Ultimately, Kristian
Birkeland’s obsession with the workings of the
cosmos cost him his health, his happiness, and his
sanity—perhaps even his life. He spent his
final days in exile in Egypt, and died in 1917 in
Japan, under suspicious circumstances, his
groundbreaking theories unheralded; he was cheated
of the Nobel Prize by a rival. But now
Birkeland’s ideas are considered to have been
prophetic, and they have furthered our understanding
not only of the Northern Lights but also of
electromagnetism, comets, and the
sun.
Exhaustively researched and thrillingly
told, the previously unknown story of Kristian
Birkeland is an enthralling—and
enlightening—saga.
"A
stunning
debut... The
Northern Lights
brings alive a
bygone era and a man
who changed how
we perceive the
magnetic and solar
wonders of the
universe. Lucy
Jago’s crisp
and careful prose
gives a surprising
access both into the
complex physics
behind the aurora
borealis and the
brilliant,
misunderstood
Kristian
Birkeland.
This well-crafted
book is at turns
compelling,
illuminating, and
remarkably full of
adventure--at times
evocative of the
character-driven
histories found in
Longitude
and The
Professor and The
Madman. By
story’s end,
Birkeland’s
generosity and
eccentricities have
choreographed his
downfall and, in his
passing, we have an
intimate glimpse
into a life as
elusive and
spectacular as the
aurora
borealis itself."
--Jonathan
Waterman, author of
Arctic
Crossing and
In the Shadow of
Denali
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