About Kristian Birkeland
Kristian Olaf Bernhard Birkeland (born 13 December 1867 – 15 June 1917) was a Norwegian space physicist, inventor, and professor of physics at the Royal Fredriks University in Oslo. He is best remembered for his theories of atmospheric electric currents that elucidated the nature of the aurora borealis. In order to fund his research on the aurorae, he invented the electromagnetic cannon and the Birkeland–Eyde process of fixing nitrogen from the air. Birkeland was nominated for the Nobel Prize seven times. == Life and death == Birkeland was born in Christiania (today Oslo) to Reinart and Ingeborg Birkeland (née Ege) and wrote his first scientific paper at the age of 18. Birkeland married Ida Charlotte Hammer in May 1905. They had no children and, due to Birkeland's preoccupation with his work, they divorced in 1911. Suffering from severe paranoia due to his use of barbital as a sleeping aid, he died under mysterious circumstances in his room in the Hotel Seiyoken in Tokyo while visiting colleagues at the University of Tokyo. A post-mortem revealed that Birkeland had taken 10 g of barbital the night he died, instead of the 0.5 g recommended. The time of death was estimated at 3am on 15 June 1917.
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