Carl Størmer

Alv Egeland is an Emeritus Professor Professor in space physics/cosmic physics at the University of Oslo. He was Director of the Norwegian Institute of Cosmic Physics 1968-72. Prof. Egeland received several awards including The Order of Merit in Gold from the King of Norway, in 2002, and is author or co-author of 17 books. Dr. William J. Burke got his Ph.D. in 1971 from MIT. During his scientific career he lead several teams for satellite experiments. He authored or co-authored about 300 scientific publications.

• Preface.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Carl Størmer’s Origins.- 3 Størmer’s Auroral Studies.- 4 Mother-of-Pearl-, Noctilucent Clouds, Comets and Metors.- 5 Botanical Interests.- 6 Mathematical Analyses.- 7 Cooperation and conflict with Kristian Birkeland.- 8 Størmer the Man.- 9 The Størmer Family.- 10 Størmer’s Accomplishments: In Retrospect.- 11 Carl Størmer’s publications, biographies, and other sources. Appendix 1 Størmer’s Trajectory Analyses.- Appendix 2 Auroral Height and Position Orientations.- Bibliography.- Index of names.

From the book reviews:“The authors give a detailed account of his early life, his parents, and Størmer’s growing interest in mathematics, astronomy, and botany. … for those who have seen, or harbour hopes of seeing, the lights in the northern sky, this is a book worth reading as it will infect the reader with some of Størmer’s magic and will make the experience so much more meaningful.” (Ken Kennedy, The Observatory, Vol. 134 (1242), October, 2014)