Kristian Birkeland Theorized that the Universe is Electric
I just finished reading Donald Scott’s The Interconnected Cosmos,1 which is an update to his book The Electric Sky.2 In the chapter on galaxies, Scott quotes from Kristian Birkeland’s most important work on the aurorae: The Norwegian Aurora Polaris Expeditions 1902-1903.3
According to our manner of looking at the matter, every star in the universe would be the seat and field of activity of electric forces of a strength that no one could imagine.
We have no certain opinion as to how the assumed enormous electric currents with enormous tension are produced, but it is certainly not in accordance with the principles we employ in technics on the earth at the present time. One may well believe, however, that a knowledge in the future of the electrotechnics of the heavens would be of great practical value to our electrical engineers.
It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. We have assumed that each stellar system in evolutions throws off electric corpuscles into space. It does not seem unreasonable therefore to think that the greater part of the material masses in the universe is found, not in the solar systems or nebulæ, but in “empty” space. [Second section, p.720]
So Birkeland wrote in 1913, one hundred and ten years ago, that the Universe is full of electric currents and charged particles. But this was not mere speculation on his part. Having conducted experiments in his laboratory with his terrella, as I wrote in a previous post, On Little Earths and Little Suns, as well as observations in the Arctic North, he was the most suited man of his generation to make such a statement. In the biography Kristian Birkeland: The First Space Scientist4, Alv Egeland and William Burke wrote:
As the first to examine disturbance records from around the globe during magnetic storms, Birkeland estimated that currents of several millions Amperes must flow in the upper atmosphere. He understood intuitively that only the Sun could drive and sustain such large electrical currents. Consequently, currents in the upper atmosphere must connect to generators in deep space via magnetically field-aligned currents. Indeed, Birkeland found the predicted currents replicated in laboratory simulations. He reached truly innovative conclusions about the physics of the aurora and disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field. [p.8]
Birkeland’s words turned out to be prophetic. Here is a summary of the plasma universe by Nobel Prize winner Hannes Alfvén:5
The same basic laws of plasma physics hold from laboratory and magnetospheric heliospheric plasmas out to interstellar and intergalactic plasmas.
In order to understand the phenomena in a certain plasma region, it is necessary to map not only the magnetic but also the electric field and the electric currents.
Space is filled with a network of currents which transfer energy and momentum over large or very large distances. The currents often pinch to filamentary or surface currents. The latter are likely to give space, as also interstellar and intergalactic space, a cellular structure.
Yet, if we look at the mainstream today, still Birkeland’s idea of a universe filled with electric currents is perceived to be heretical. We have barely moved forward since the days of the reception of Expédition Norvégienne de 1899-1900 pour l'étude des aurores boréales : résultats des recherches magnétiques6 (Norwegian Expedition in 1899-1900 for the Study of Aurorae Borealis: Results of Magnetic Researches), Birkeland’s description of his first Polar voyage in 1900:
As the book was published in French, it received only limited reviews. In particular, the Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society attacked the book and gave it a low rating. The basis of this negative review was a remark by Lord Kelvin published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society (1892). Kelvin believed that the Sun could not affect the Earth’s magnetic field and that apparent correlations between solar and geomagnetic activity were illusory. He regarded interplanetary space as devoid of matter. Few British scientists were prepared to take public issue with Kelvin’s conclusion. [Egeland and Burke, p.56]
After Kelvin passed away, the anti-Birkeland crusade was taken up by the British mathematician Sydney Chapman. This continued even fifty years after Birkeland’s death:7
But Chapman seemed to have gone off the deep end at a symposium in 1967 held in honor of the 100th anniversary of Birkeland’s birth. Chapman, who had the reputation as the most eminent auroral and geomagnetic scientist of the age, was invited to give the lead address. It is customary on such an occasion to say pleasant things about the honoree. This is what Chapman did say: “in science it is our good custom to appreciate the true discoveries and enlightening stimulus provided by great men, rather than to dwell on their misconceptions.” “The apparently unshakable hold, on Birkeland’s mind, of his basic but invalid conception of intense electron beams, mingled error inextricably with truth in the presentation of his ideas and experiments on auroras and magnetic storms.”
But the caravan moves on, and the importance of Birkeland currents is recognized more and more. I will return to this topic at length.
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Donald E. Scott. The Interconnected Cosmos. Minneapolis, MN: Stickmanonstone Pub., 2021.
Donald E. Scott. The Electric Sky: A Challenge to the Myths of Modern Astronomy. Portland, OR: Mikamar Publishing, 2006.
Kr. Birkeland. The Norwegian Aurora Polaris Expeditions 1902-1903. Volume 1: On the Cause of Magnetic Storms and the Origin of Terrestrial Magnetism. Christiana: H. Aschehoug & Co., First Section: 1908. Second Section: 1913. The two sections are available as a single PDF file from the CERN Document Server: https://cds.cern.ch/record/1395529/files/norwegianaurorap01chririch.pdf
Alv Egeland and William J. Burke. Kristian Birkeland: The First Space Scientist. Springer, 2005.
Hannes O.G. Alfvén. Cosmology in the Plasma Universe: An Introductory Exposition. IEEE Transactions on Plasma Physics 18(1):5-10, February 1990.
Kristian Birkeland. Expédition Norvégienne de 1899-1900 pour l'étude des aurores boréales : résultats des recherches magnétiques. Christiana: Dybwad, 1901.
Sidney Borowitz. The Norwegian and the Englishman. Perspective in Physics 10:287-294, 2008.
Very interesting, I didn't know they tried to give Birkeland the Velikovsky treatment, there seems to be a consistant theme of great thinkers being destroyed by academia.
A friend's father was a nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and then for Bell Labs for many years. He said that there was a golden age when science was more open that he lived through in the 30s and 40s but that we were unlikely to experience such times again during our lives. He said scientists can be extremely petty and competitive and they do scientific progress no favors. This piece, while fascinating and eye opening, helps me to understand what he was saying. Thank you.