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August 14, 2009

A Google Bomb Logo? Nope. Hans Christian Ørsted Birthday

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.

Google Logo For Orsted

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.

Forum discussion at Google Help Forums.



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posted rustybrick in Other Google Topics at August 14, 2009 8:19 AM Comments (6)

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Comments

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.

 

Posted by Michael Davidson at August 14, 2009 09:08

Yea, sorry, typo...

 

Posted by Barry Schwartz at August 14, 2009 09:09

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.

 

Posted by bob mraz at August 14, 2009 09:14

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

 

Posted by No Name at August 14, 2009 10:00

Wish google would put in the alt text "Google Home. Hans Christian Orsted birthday" Then of course I would google him.

 

Posted by Cathy Walcott at August 14, 2009 11:41

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.

 

Posted by Jessica Griffin at August 17, 2009 04:51

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