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Today, if you visit Google you might notice a whacky logo that might appear to you as a bomb of some sort. In reality, it is Google celebrating the birthday of Hans Christian Ørsted. Who? Well, he was a Danish physicist born in 1777. He is best known for the observation of electric currents, which can induce magnetic fields. In other words, the logo, which you see below, shows how wires are passing an electric current to help the compass work.
He died in 1851 and was buried in Copenhagen. A man, most of Google searchers had no clue about, is now well-known due to Google.
So when someone asks you, what is that bomb on Google's home page, tell them the importance of the logo and Ørsted's work.
Comments:
Michael Davidson
08/14/2009 01:08 pm
Making the timer work? I hope that was an attempt at humor. Shouldn't that be compass? Passing electricity past the compass made it point in another direction than magnetic north. Swapping the battery around, made the compass point in the opposite direction.
Barry Schwartz
08/14/2009 01:09 pm
Yea, sorry, typo...
bob mraz
08/14/2009 01:14 pm
http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/020589.html There is NO timer in the graphic. There is what looks like a compass, a nail and a battery in the graphic. The compass may be affected by the magnetic field created by the battery IF there was a switch connected and it was opened and closed. Nice picture though.
No Name
08/14/2009 02:00 pm
Hans Christian Ørsted has changed our lives. Where would we be today without him? His contributions are so valuable to our world, still. http://www.AbsoluteFact.com/Hans_Christian_Ørsted.html
Cathy Walcott
08/14/2009 03:41 pm
Wish google would put in the alt text "Google Home. Hans Christian Orsted birthday" Then of course I would google him.
Jessica Griffin
08/17/2009 08:51 am
I was very confused by the recent Google logo, but now it all makes sense. Cheers to Google for making a conscious effort to ensure that more people come to know about Orsted, who was a great scientist.