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PREFACEThisscientificbiographyofKristian Birkeland(1867–1917)was written tobring the story ofa Norwegian nationalhero to the attention ofthe English-speaking world.Birkeland’sheroic stature was establishednot on afieldofmilitarybattle,butinthebitter coldoftheArticwilderness ashe soughttoanswerbasic questions abouthow the Sun controllednorthernlights andmag-netic storms. He was also afather ofNorskHydro one ofNorway’slargestindustries. Birkelanddiedbefore reaching the age of50.Because Birkelandneverkept adiary,documentedinformation abouthisfamily and private life is sparse. Before he died, Olaf Devik, the last of Birke-ffland’s closefriends, gave alonginterview andgraciously transferredhis per-sonalarchive to A.E. Birkeland’s 82 scientific papers andthreebook-lengthpublications map the progress ofhisinvestigations. addressed this book questions that had vexed European scientists for centuries. Why do the northern lights appear overhead when the Earth’s magnetic field is disturbed? How are magnetic storms connected to disturbances on the Sun? To answer these questions Birkeland interpreted his advance laboratory simulations and daring campaigns in the Arctic wilderness in the light of Maxwell’s newly discovered laws of electricity and magnetism. Birkeland’s ideas were dismissed for decades, only to be vindicated when satellites could fly above the Earth’s atmosphere.