Background

Rømer was born on 25 September 1644 in Arhus to a merchant and skipper, Christen Pedersen (died 1663), and Anna Olufsdatter Storm (c.  1610 – 1690), daughter of a well-to-do alderman.

Since 1642, Christen Pedersen had taken to using the name Romer, which means that he was from the Danish island of Romo, to distinguish himself from a couple of other people named Christen Pedersen.

Education

Since 1642, Christen Pedersen had taken to using the name Romer, which means that he was from the Danish island of Romo, to distinguish himself from a couple of other people named Christen Pedersen.

There are few records of Ole Romer before 1662, when he graduated from the old Aarhus Katedralskole (the Cathedral school of Aarhus), moved to Copenhagen and matriculated at the University of Copenhagen.

His mentor at the University was Rasmus Bartholin, who published his discovery of the double refraction of a light ray by Iceland spar (calcite) in 1668, while Romer was living in his home.

Romer was given every opportunity to learn mathematics and astronomy using Tycho Brahe's astronomical observations, as Bartholin had been given the task of preparing them for publication.

Career

He discovered that the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites seemed to take place at different times, depending on the time of year at which observations were made. He concluded that this discrepancy arose from the difference in the distance that the light from Jupiter had to travel when the earth was nearest to Jupiter and when it was farthest from it, six months later.

This first announcement of the discovery of the finite velocity of light probably ranks second (the law of gravity first) among man's greatest achievements. Roemer's inventions and discoveries were almost unparalleled: he invented the transit instrument, the altazimuth, the equatorial telescope, and other equipment.

In 1681 Roemer was recalled to the University of Copenhagen as royal professor of mathematics and astronomy. He invented the transit and altazimuth and set up these instruments along with a form of equatorial telescope at his observatory on the outskirts of Copenhagen.

A great fire in 1728 destroyed most of his records, yet his improved observation technic and inventions advanced astronomy immensely. Roemer died in Copenhagen, September 23, 1710.

Achievements

• Romer also invented the modern thermometer showing the temperature between two fixed points, namely the points at which water respectively boils and freezes.
  
  In scientific literature alternative spellings such as "Roemer", "Römer", or "Romer" are common.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Pirate with the Silver Skull Ring

    (This novel may shock you, will make you laugh, and may br...)

  • Main Roots And Decent Food
  • Decent Food
  • By My Side
  • Inflation Jingle Reprise
  • Drive Slow - No Thinking

Views

Quotations: He found "a retardation of light of twenty-two minutes, for an interval of space double the sun's distance from the earth. "

Interests

• Music & Bands

  Roemer's inventions and discoveries were almost unparalleled: he invented the transit instrument, the altazimuth, the equatorial telescope, and other equipment.

Connections

He was married to Anne Marie Bartholin, the daughter of Rasmus Bartholin.

Father:

Christen Pedersen

Mother:

Anna Olufsdatter Storm

assistant:

Peder Horrebow