Background
Henrik Mohn was born on May 15, 1835, in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway to the family of Albert Henrik Mohn and Adelaide Charlotte Augusta Neumann. He was a grandson of bishop Jacob Neumann on the maternal side.
Problemveien 7, 0315 Oslo, Norway
In 1852 Mohn enrolled at the Royal Frederick University where he began his studies in theology. Having followed lectures in physics, Mohn made a switch to natural sciences, focusing in particular on physics, astronomy, and mineralogy. While still a student he built his own telescope in order to study sunspots, the rings of Jupiter, and the Moon. In 1858 he received his master’s degree in mineralogy.
Kong Oscars gate 36, 5017 Bergen, Norway
Mohn finished his secondary education at Bergen Cathedral School in 1852.
Problemveien 7, 0315 Oslo, Norway
In 1852 Mohn enrolled at the Royal Frederick University where he began his studies in theology. Having followed lectures in physics, Mohn made a switch to natural sciences, focusing in particular on physics, astronomy, and mineralogy. While still a student he built his own telescope in order to study sunspots, the rings of Jupiter, and the Moon. In 1858 he received his master’s degree in mineralogy.
Henrik Mohn was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Henrik Mohn was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Henrik Mohn was a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
Henrik Mohn was a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters.
Henrik Mohn was a member of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg.
Henrik Mohn was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Henrik Mohn was a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Astronomer educator meteorologist scientist
Henrik Mohn was born on May 15, 1835, in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway to the family of Albert Henrik Mohn and Adelaide Charlotte Augusta Neumann. He was a grandson of bishop Jacob Neumann on the maternal side.
Mohn finished his secondary education at Bergen Cathedral School in 1852. The same year he enrolled at the Royal Frederick University where he began his studies in theology. Having followed lectures in physics, Mohn made a switch to natural sciences, focusing in particular on physics, astronomy, and mineralogy. While still a student he built his own telescope in order to study sunspots, the rings of Jupiter, and the Moon. In 1858 he received his master’s degree in mineralogy.
After graduating in 1858 Mohn held the position of editor of "Polyteknisk Tidsskrift" (a journal published by the Polytechnic Society) from 1859 to 1862. In 1860 Mohn received a Research Fellowship in astronomy, and in 1861 he was appointed Chief Observer at the astronomical observatory of the university in Oslo and was tasked with continuing the meteorological observation series initially started by Christopher Hansteen in 1837. This was Mohn's formal entry into the field of meteorology - an interest he would pursue for the rest of his life.
In 1863 Mohn published an article in Polyteknisk Tidsskrift; "Stormene i Christiania fra 1837 til 1863" ["The storms in Christianias from 1837 to 1863]. The following year Mohn published a thesis on the cloud cover in Christiania and its periodic change. During the autumn of 1865, he gave a series of presentations in Polyteknisk Forening on modern meteorology and the prediction of weather - presentations that were instrumental in bringing about the establishment of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute in July 1866. Concurrent with the establishment of the Institute, Mohn was appointed professor and its first director.
In 1870 the Norwegian Meteorological Institute published a Storm Atlas and in 1872 a publication on "Weather and Winds - The Main Findings of Meteorology". This book, which gave the first-ever representation of meteorology based on weather charts with observations drawn in, was translated from Norwegian to a number of languages.
Mohn's arguably most significant contribution to the field of meteorology was his attempt - together with mathematician Cato M. Guldberg - to explain meteorological phenomena using the laws of physics. From 1876 to 1880 Mohn compiled his most important work, Études sur les mouvements de l'atmosphère, where meteorology was treated as a quantitative discipline, based on equations of hydrodynamics and thermodynamics.
Based on observations from a series of expeditions in the Arctic Ocean, Mohn in 1887 published Nordhavets Dybder, Temperatur og Strømninger [The Depth, Temperature and Oceanic Currents of the Northern Seas]. Again, laws and equations from the field of hydrodynamics were applied to explain the observations, and the results derived at by Mohn has formed the foundation for a number of later works in the field of meteorology.
Henrik Mohn being a grandson of a Lutheran bishop was also baptized Lutheran and at first, intended to pursue his career at church.
Henrik Mohn's career wasn't connected with politics and his political stance is unknown.
Mohn was a great proponent of international collaboration and played an important role in the International Meteorological Organization (superseded by the World Meteorological Organization). He served on a number of organization's commissions and was a member of its board from 1873 to 1910.
Henrik Mohn was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters , Norway
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences , Sweden
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina , Germany
Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters , Norway
Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg , Sweden
Russian Academy of Sciences , Russia
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , Denmark
In addition to conducting research, Mohn took up an interest he had pursued in his youth: amateur painting. A painting of the island Jan Mayen was later used for a 1957 stamp issued in Norway.
Henrik Mohn was married twice. In December 1863 he married Louise Nicoline Rieck. After she died, he married Julie Birgitte Dyblie in July 1871. They had a daughter Louise (Lulle) Mohn.