CHEMISTS from Norway

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Norwegian Chemists of all time. This list of famous Norwegian Chemists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Odd Hassel (1897 - 1981)

With an HPI of 66.26, Odd Hassel is the most famous Norwegian Chemist.  His biography has been translated into 56 different languages on wikipedia.

Odd Hassel (17 May 1897 – 11 May 1981) was a Norwegian physical chemist and Nobel Laureate.

2. Lars Onsager (1903 - 1976)

With an HPI of 63.93, Lars Onsager is the 2nd most famous Norwegian Chemist.  His biography has been translated into 66 different languages.

Lars Onsager (November 27, 1903 – October 5, 1976) was a Norwegian American physical chemist and theoretical physicist. He held the Gibbs Professorship of Theoretical Chemistry at Yale University. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1968.

3. Kristian Birkeland (1867 - 1917)

With an HPI of 57.72, Kristian Birkeland is the 3rd most famous Norwegian Chemist.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

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.

4. Peter Waage (1833 - 1900)

With an HPI of 54.28, Peter Waage is the 4th most famous Norwegian Chemist.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Peter Waage (29 June 1833 – 13 January 1900) was a Norwegian chemist and professor of chemistry at the University of Kristiania. Along with his brother-in-law Cato Maximilian Guldberg, he co-discovered and developed the law of mass action between 1864 and 1879.