Description

This item consists of a metal compass with a glass face mounted on a wooden base.

This item is a replica of the small desktop compass that Hans Christian Ørsted had on his desk when he discovered the link between electricity and magnetism. In 1820, he was working with an early battery when he noticed that the magnetized needle of a compass moved when he connected a circuit to the battery he was working with, even though the compass itself had not moved. After more experiments, he realized that electricity, particularly when electricity flowed through a wire formed into a coil, formed a magnetic field. This discovery laid the groundwork for the nineteenth century revolution in physics. This replica was presented to MIT by the Technical University of Denmark in 1961 as part of MIT’s centennial celebration.