Kirstine Bjerrum Meyer

Kirstine Bjerrum Meyer (October 12, 1861 - September 28, 1941) was a Danish physicist. She was a high school teacher for many years, working on her education and research in physics at the same time. She won the Gold Medal of the Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters in 1899, for a paper examining whether there exists a general equation of state for all fluid bodies, Om overensstemmende Tilstande hos Stofferne. She received her Ph.D in physics from the University of Copenhagen in 1909. Her dissertation, Temperaturbegrebets Udvikling gennem Tiderne (The Development of the Temperature Concept through Time), was an in-depth treatment of the history of the concept of temperature.

In 1902, Meyer founded Fysisk Tidsskrift, the Danish journal of physics. She was its editor until 1913.

In 1925, she was awarded the Tagea Brandt Rejselegat

She was sister of Jannik Petersen Bjerrum (source).

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MEYER-BJERRUM, KIRSTINE (1861–1941)

Danish physicist. Born 12 October 1861 in Skaerbaek, North Schleswig to Christine (Degn) and Niels Janniksen Bjerrum. Married Adolph Constantin Meyer (7 November 1885). Educated University of Copenhagen (M.S. 1886, Ph.D. 1909). Professional experience: secondary schools and teacher preparation institutes, Copenhagen (1882–1930); Fysik Tidsskrift, co-founder (1902), publisher and co-publisher (1902–1912), editor (1902–1910). Honors and memberships: Examination Board for Teachers, member, director (1909–1940); Scientific Society in Denmark, gold medal (1889); gold medal for service awarded by the King of Denmark (1920). Died 12 October 1941 in Hellerup.

Kirstine Meyer-Bjerrum’s interest in thermochemistry led her to investigate the historical development of ideas about heat and temperature, the subject of her doctoral dissertation. She published a number of articles and monographs on the work of Danish scientists, including the astronomer Ole Rømer and the physicist Hans C.Ørsted. Meyer-Bjerrum also wrote a book on radioactivity. In 1902 she cofounded a Danish physics journal, Fysik Tidsskrift, which she published and edited for many years.

Several members of Meyer-Bjerrum’s family distinguished themselves in the sciences, including her brother, opthalmology professor Jannick Bjerrum, and her nephew, chemist Niels Bjerrum.

JH/MBO PRIMARY SOURCES

Meyer-Bjerrum, Kirstine. “Zur Geschichte der Antiperistasis.” Annalen der Naturphilosophie 3, ca. 1903:143.

——. Radium og radioaktive Stoffer samt nyere opdagelser angaaende Straaler. Copenhagen: Glyldendalske boghandel nordisk forlag, 1904.

——. Die Entwickelung des Temperaturbegriffs im Laufe der Zeiten. Trans. Irmgard Kolde. Brunswick: Friedrick Vieweg & Son, 1913.

——. “Scientific Life and Works of H.C.Ørsted.” In H.C. Ørsted: Scientific Papers. Vol. 1. Ed. the Royal Danish Society of Sciences. Copenhagen: A.F.Host and Son, 1920. STANDARD SOURCES

Poggendorff 5, 6, 7b; Dansk Biografisk 15.