Niels Bjerrum

Niels Janniksen Bjerrum (11 March 1879 – 30 September 1958) was a Danish chemist.[1]

Niels Bjerrum was the son of ophthalmologist Jannik Petersen Bjerrum, and started to study at the University of Copenhagen in 1897. He received his Master's degree in 1902 and his Doctor's degree in 1908, and did research in coordination complex chemistry under Sophus Mads Jørgensen. He became a docent in 1912, and in 1914 he became a professor of chemistry at the Royal Agricultural College (Landbohøjskolen) in Copenhagen, as successor of Odin Tidemand Christensen. He stayed on this post until his retirement in 1949, and from 1939 to 1946 he was also the Director of the College.

Importantly, Bjerrum introduced the concept of three forms of molecular energy, translational, vibrational and rotational which was important in understanding vibrational spectroscopy.[2] He is also noted for the theory behind the Bjerrum length, and the Bjerrum plot. Bjerrum also performed some of the first research on the measurement of soil acidity.[3]

His son Jannik Bjerrum (1909–1992) also became a chemist and was active in the area of complex chemistry.[4][5]

  1. ^ "Obituary: Professor Niels J. Bjerrum". Transactions of the Faraday Society. 55: X001. 1959. doi:10.1039/TF959550X001.
  2. ^ Jones, R. Norman (1985). chapter 1 in Analytical applications of vibrational spectroscopy-A historical reviewChemical, Biological and Industrial application of Infrared Spectroscopy edited by James R. Durig. pp. 1–50. ISBN 0-471-90834-7.
  3. ^ Investigations of the Factors Which Determine the Reaction of Soil (1919) (Archive) by Niels Janniksen Bjerrum and J. K. Gjaldbæk. Published in Den Kongelige Veterinær-og Landbohøjskole Aarsskrift (1919). Translated by J. Rundo in 1956 and archived at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (Harwell Laboratory, Oxfordshire) library.
  4. ^ Jørgensen, Christian K. (1994). "Jannik Bjerrum's Later Life—Turning Toward Chemical Physics". Coordination Chemistry. ACS Symposium Series. Vol. 565. pp. 116–125. doi:10.1021/bk-1994-0565.ch009. ISBN 0-8412-2950-3.
  5. ^ Schäffer, Claus E. (1994). "Jannik Bjerrum (1909-1992)". Coordination Chemistry. ACS Symposium Series. Vol. 565. pp. 96–114. doi:10.1021/bk-1994-0565.ch008. ISBN 0-8412-2950-3.