Hans Christian Ørsted

Hans Christian Ørsted was a Danish physicist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, a fundamental principle in electromagnetism. In 1820, he demonstrated that a compass needle deflects when placed near a wire carrying an electric current. This breakthrough revealed the relationship between electricity and magnetism, leading to the development of electrodynamics, which studies their interactions. Ørsted's work laid the foundation for future advancements in physics, influencing inventors and scientists like James Clerk Maxwell, who later formulated the comprehensive theory of electromagnetism that describes how electric and magnetic fields interact.