Born to a pastor, Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel first showcased his mathematical skills in his cathedral school and later became a pioneer of various mathematical concepts. He died of tuberculosis, amid poverty, before he could learn that he had been appointed to teach at the University of Berlin.
Johan Galtung is a Norwegian sociologist best known as the founder of a social science field called peace and conflict studies. He is also credited with founding the Peace Research Institute Oslo where he served as the director from 1959 to 1970. Renowned for his contribution to political science, economics, and history, Galtung won the Right Livelihood Award in 1987.
Sophus Lie was a Norwegian mathematician best remembered for creating the theory of continuous symmetry, which was then applied to different mathematical fields like differential equations and geometry. During his lifetime, Lie advised many doctoral students and future mathematicians like Élie Cartan. Sophus Lie’s work on group theory was used by Hermann Weyl in his papers in the early 1920s.
Vilhelm Bjerknes was a Norwegian meteorologist and physicist who is counted among the pioneers of the present-day practice of weather forecasting. The primitive equations, which are used today in numerical climate modeling and weather prediction, were formulated by him. Vilhelm Bjerknes also developed the Bergen School of Meteorology, which played a major role in advancing meteorology in the early-20th century.
Atle Selberg was a Norwegian mathematician best remembered for his work on the theory of automorphic forms and analytic number theory. In 1950, he was honored with the prestigious Fields Medal. In 2002, Atle Selberg was awarded an honorary Abel Prize for his contribution to mathematics, especially spectral theory.
Carl Størmer was a Norwegian astrophysicist and mathematician. In physics, Størmer is best known for studying the formation of aurorae and the movement of negatively and positively charged particles in the magnetosphere. As a mathematician, Carl Størmer is renowned for his research in number theory. He also served for many years as a professor at the University of Oslo.
Cato Maximilian Guldberg was a Norwegian mathematician and chemist considered to be a pioneer in physical chemistry. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Christiania. He furthered his studies in Germany and pursued a successful academic career. He originated the idea of what became known as the Guldberg rule in physical chemistry.