Saturday, December 13, 2008

Niels Bohr outsmarts the Nazis

In talking with an acquaintance at Fermilab a little known story of how Niels Bohr (and other scientists) resisted the Nazis and hid prominent scientists from them.

The story comes from Harvard Professor James English in his book THE ECONOMY OF PRESTIGE: Prizes, Awards, and the Circulation of Cultural Value


When the Germans began their occupation of Denmark in 1940, the great Danish atomic physicist Niels Bohr was rightly concerned that his Institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen had in recent years become a harbor not only for leading German physicists but for the Nobel medals of some of the German laureates who had taken refuge there--in particular James Franck and Max von Laue. Since winners' names are engraved on Nobel medals, these were particularly dangerous pieces of evidence against Bohr's colleagues. Anticipating a raid on his facilities, Bohr managed, just hours before the Nazis arrived, to have the medals dissolved--a more demanding chemical operation than one might think, and not one for which a theoretical physics lab is well suited. The resultant jars of liquid meant nothing to the military officials conducting the search, the institute was spared, and after the war the gold was recovered from its solution and returned to the Nobel Foundation, which had new medals cast for the two laureates."

--James F. English, The Economy of Prestige, p. 157

Monday, August 25, 2008

Bornholm l'heure bleu

Rønne, Denmark

Copenhagen l'heure bleu II


Copenhagen Red light district?

Copenhagen l'heure bleu

Inspired by my favorite Scandinavian photographer (Fredrik) I'm posting a few photos of Copenhagen l'heure bleu.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Ales Stener II

A little video put together from photos I took while visiting Ales stener. For more information regarding Ales Stones read this original post.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Ales stenar - Ystad Sweden







"Between the sea and heavens cants the coast there Ale raised a giant ship of stones, recumbent where the glare of light dispersed, in the darkened stillness of the forms reconciles, a saga obscured shrouded to the tones of the Baltic, a memorial whose secret alone it conceals."
-- Anders Osterling (translated)



On the Kaseberga ridge above the southern Swedish coast, Ales stenar attracts nearly three-quarters of a million visitors each year. But what is Ales stenar? We do know it is a 67 meter long ship-shaped monument of 59 granite stones, some weighing two tons.

Four stones in the center align near N-S and E-W and form a straight line with the sunrise on the summer solstice. The largest sundial on the Skåne coast? Visit Ales Stenar and draw your own conclusions.



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Saturday, June 21, 2008

Journey to the Center of the Earth


This church, the Church of Our Saviour (Vor Frelsers Kirke), is mentioned in Jules Verne's book Journey to the Center of the Earth.
In the book, professor Otto Lidenbrock attempts to reach the center of the earth by traveling through a volcano in Iceland. However, while waiting in Copenhagen Otto and his nephew Axel climb the stairs of the Vor Frelsers Kirke.

There are 400 steps to the top and the last 150 wind around the outside of the spire.

Vor Frelsers Kirke (website)
Vor Frelsers Kirke (map)