The Norwegian Expedition 1899-1900 for the Study of the Aurora Borealis

This book is the first annotated English edition of Kristian Birkeland’s book "Expédition Norvégienne 1899–1900 pour l’Étude des Aurores Boréales" (1901), his earliest work devoted entirely to the aurora following his observation campaign in Northern Norway. It marks a turning point in Birkeland’s thinking towards the modern concept of vertical electric currents in the upper atmosphere and shows a distinct transition from a 19th-century intuitive practice of physics to a more modern, systematic scientific methodology.

Richly illustrated with unpublished material, this edition traces Birkeland’s approach to linking laboratory plasma experiments with auroral observations in the field, his efforts to secure public funding, his preparation and organisation of expeditions under extreme Arctic conditions, and his systematic use of state-of-the art instrumentation. His observational findings made it possible to refine his laboratory experiments and paved the way for his later, more ambitious and systematic observational campaigns as well as his well-known Terrella experiments.

In addition, the book provides an overview of the historical instruments used or mentioned by Birkeland and will appeal to historians of science as well as undergraduate students and advanced amateurs.