GEOLOGISTS from Denmark

Top 2

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

1. Nicolas Steno (1638 - 1686)

With an HPI of 67.35, Nicolas Steno is the most famous Danish Geologist.  His biography has been translated into 46 different languages on wikipedia.

Niels Steensen (Danish: Niels Steensen; Latinized to Nicolas Steno or Nicolaus Stenonius; 1 January 1638 – 25 November 1686 [NS: 11 January 1638 – 5 December 1686]) was a Danish scientist, a pioneer in both anatomy and geology who became a Catholic bishop in his later years. He has been beatified by the Catholic Church. Steensen was trained in the classical texts on science; however, by 1659 he seriously questioned accepted knowledge of the natural world. Importantly he questioned explanations for tear production, the idea that fossils grew in the ground and explanations of rock formation. His investigations and his subsequent conclusions on fossils and rock formation have led scholars to consider him one of the founders of modern stratigraphy and modern geology. The importance of Steensen's foundational contributions to geology may be gauged from the fact that half of the twenty papers in a recent miscellany volume on The Revolution in Geology from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment focus on Steensen, the "preeminent Baroque polymath and founder of modern geologic thought". Born to a Lutheran family, Steensen converted to Catholicism in 1667. After his conversion, his interest in the natural sciences rapidly waned giving way to his interest in theology. At the beginning of 1675, he decided to become a priest. Four months later, he was ordained in the Catholic clergy on Easter Sunday in 1675. As a clergyman, he was later appointed Vicar Apostolic of Nordic Missions and Titular Bishop of Titopolis by Pope Innocent XI. Steensen played an active role in the Counter-Reformation in Northern Germany. His canonization process began in 1938 and Pope John Paul II beatified Steensen in 1988.

2. Inge Lehmann (1888 - 1993)

With an HPI of 65.33, Inge Lehmann is the 2nd most famous Danish Geologist.  Her biography has been translated into 56 different languages.

Inge Lehmann (13 May 1888 – 21 February 1993) was a Danish seismologist and geophysicist who is known for her discovery in 1936 of the solid inner core that exists within the molten outer core of the Earth. The seismic discontinuity in the speed of seismic waves at depths between 190 and 250 km is named the Lehmann discontinuity after her. Lehmann is considered to be a pioneer among women and scientists in seismology research.