Secondary literature about Harald Bohr



General secondary literature about Bohr

The most complete work about Bohr and his works is the dissertation by Ramskov (item 1 below), which touches upon most aspects. The many obituaries which exist cover Bohr's life and work from the viewpoint of different persons. The rest of 13 secondary works below touches different aspects of Bohr's works, his importance at the University of Copenhagen, his relationship to the brother Niels Bohr and his football career.

  1. Ramskov, Kurt: Matematikeren Harald Bohr [The mathematician Harald Bohr]. Ph.D. dissertation, Institut for de eksakte videnskabers historie, Aarhus Universitet 1995. 451 pp.
    Ph.D. dissertation in Danish. It is a biography of Bohr which touches upon all aspects of Bohr's life: his mathematical work, his pedagogical importance, his career, as head of the mathematics institute, his help to German mathematical refugees in the 1930s, his fight against "Deutsche Mathematik", his many international contacts and colleagues, his family etc. A detailed discussion is given of his mathematical works before 1932, which include the most important of his works.

  2. Jessen, Børge: Harald Bohr, Normat 32 (1984), pp. 1-11
    Article in Danish. This short article gives biographical information about Bohr as well as a nice survey of his major mathematical works. The article is mainly based on Jessen's obiturary in Acta Mathematica.

  3. Kahane, Jean-Pierre: Around Bohr's thesis. The Harald Bohr Centenary: Proceedings of a Symposium held in Copenhagen April 24-25, 1987. Edited by C. Berg & B. Fuglede. Matematisk-fysiske Meddelelser 42:3, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, København 1989, pp. 103-111.
    This work discusses Bohr's work on Dirichlet series especially the results in his thesis.

  4. Kahane, Jean-Pierre: The last problem of Harald Bohr. Journal of the Australian Mathematical Society A 47 (1989), pp. 133-52
    As the title indicate this article discusses the last problems Bohr considered in 1950. It was some problems in the theory of Dirichlet series.

  5. Berg, Christian: Introduction to the Almost Periodic Functions of Bohr. The Harald Bohr Centenary: Proceedings of a Symposium held in Copenhagen April 24-25, 1987. Edited by C. Berg & B. Fuglede. Matematisk-fysiske Meddelelser 42:3, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, København 1989, pp. 15-24.
    This work descripes Bohr's introduction of almost periodic functions and his major results about them.

  6. Berg, C. & Fuglede, B. (eds.): The Harald Bohr Centenary: Proceedings of a Symposium held in Copenhagen April 24-25, 1987. Matematisk-fysiske Meddelelser 42:3, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, København 1989.
    This is the proceedings of the meeting in Copenhagen celebrating the centenary of Bohr's birth. Three of the contributions are listed separately. Most of the contributions describes how subjects related to almost periodic functions have developed the preceeding half century.

  7. Tornehave, Hans: Harald Bohr: Professor and Head of Department. The Harald Bohr Centenary: Proceedings of a Symposium held in Copenhagen April 24-25, 1987. Edited by C. Berg & B. Fuglede. Matematisk-fysiske Meddelelser 42:3, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, København 1989, pp. 9-14.
    A collection of personal memories of Bohr written by one of his students. Especially it describes Bohr as the head of the department and his relationship to the students.

  8. Andersen, Kirsti & Bang, Thøger: Matematik [Mathematics]. Københavns Universitet 1479-1979. Bind XII: Det matematisk-naturvidenskabelige Fakultet, 1. del. Redigeret af Mogens Pihl m.fl. G. E. C. Gads Forlag, København 1983, pp. 113-199.
    This article in Danish describes mathematics at the University of Copenhagen during its 500 years. Bohr and his importance for Danish mathematics is included pp. 179-190.

  9. Blædel, Niels: Harmony and Unity: The life of Niels Bohr. Science Tech. Cop., Madison 1988.
    Also published in Danish. This biography is written by a journalist. It contains many biographical details including the relationship between Harald and Niels, especially in their youth.

  10. Pais, Abraham: Niels Bohr's Times, In Physics, Philosophy, and Polity. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1991.
    Also published in Danish. This biography is written by a physicist who knew Niels Bohr in the years after World War II. Chapter two goes into details with the ancestor of the Bohr family and chapter three describes the Niels' boyhood including his relationship to Harald.

  11. Rozental, Stefan (ed.): Niels Bohr. His life and work as seen by his friends and colleagues. North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam 1967.
    A translation into English of the Danish original from 1964. The book consist of a collection of memories of Niels Bohr written by friends, colleagues and collaborators. Especially the first contribution about Niels Bohr's childhood and youth gives many information about Harald Bohr and the relationship between the brothers.

  12. Rozental, Stefan: NB. Erindringer om Niels Bohr. Gyldendal, København 1985.
    This small book in Danish presents memories of Niels Bohr by one of his close collaborators. Some of chapters discuss the relationship between the brothers Harald and Niels Bohr. It is also published in German as: Schicksalsjahre mit Niels Bohr: Erinnerungen an den Begründer der modernen Atomtheorie. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1991.

  13. Gandil, Johs. (ed.): Dansk Fodbold [Danish football]. København 1939.
    A book in Danish describing Danish football [soccer] until 1939. All the players who had played on the national team are presented. This is the best source of information about Bohr's football career. The author was on the national team himself for several years.



Obituaries of Bohr

They are divided into the following types:

Jessen's obituary in Acta Mathematica is certainly the most detailed obituary. Jessen was a close friend of Bohr and collaborated with him during the period 1928-51. A few of the obituaries in the Danish journals include a photo of Bohr and two of them have a list of his publications.


Obituaries in non-Danish journals

  1. [Anonymous] Professor Harald Bohr. Norsk Matematisk Tidsskrift 33 (1951), p. 1.
    A very short obituary in Norwegian including a photo of Bohr and Richard Petersen from 1949.

  2. Bochner, Salomon: Harald Bohr April 22, 1887 - January 22, 1951. Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 58 (1952), pp. 72-75.
    Obituary in English.

  3. Jessen, Børge: Harald Bohr 22 april 1887 - 22 january 1951. Acta Mathematica 86 (1951), pp. I-XXIII.
    Obituary in English. This is the most detailed obituary of Bohr written by his close collaborator and friend Børge Jessen. It includes a list of Bohr's published works.

  4. Neugebauer, Otto: Harald Bohr (1887-1951). Year Book of The American Philosophical Society (1952), pp. 307-11.
    Obituary in English.

  5. Perron, Oskar: Harald Bohr. Jahresbericht der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung, 1. Abteilung 55 (1951), pp. 77-88.
    Obituary in German.

  6. Perron, Oskar: Harald Bohr. 22.4.1887-22.1.1951. Jahrbuch der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1951), pp. 177-79.
    Obituary in German.

  7. Tambs-Lyche, R.: Om Harald Bohr's matematiske arbeider. Norsk Matematisk Tidsskrift 33 (1951), pp. 2-16.
    A short description of Bohr's mathematical works.

  8. Titchmarsh, E. C.: Harald Bohr. The Journal of the London Mathematical Society 28 (1953), pp. 113-15.
    Obituary in English.


Obituaries in Danish journals

  1. (No author) Dødsfald. Harald Bohr. (1887-1951). Nordisk Astronomisk Tidsskrift (1951), pp. 37-8.

  2. Andersen, A. F.: Professor Harald Bohr 22. april 1887 - 22. januar 1951. Ingeniøren 60 (1951), pp. 381-2.

  3. Degner, P. W.: Harald Bohr. Ballosophen. Medlemsblad for Akademisk Boldklub Nr. 54 (1951).

  4. Jessen, Børge: Harald Bohr 22. april 1887 - 22. januar 1951. Mindetale holdt ved et fælles møde af Matematisk Forening, Matematiklærerforeningen og Parentesen 6. april 1951. Matematisk Tidsskrift A (1951), pp. 1-18.
    This is the most detailed memorial address in Danish and it includes a photo of Bohr. Most of the content is in common with the Jessen's obituary in Acta Mathematica

  5. Middelboe, Nils: Harald Bohr in memoriam. Kjøbenhavns Boldklub 15 (1951), pp. 2-3.
    An obituary of Bohr in a sport journal.

  6. Nielsen, Jakob: Harald Bohr 22. april 1887 - 22. januar 1951. Festskrift for Københavns Universitet, november 1951, pp. 95-100.
    This obituary includes a photo of Bohr.

  7. Nørlund, N. E.: Harald Bohr (1887-1951). Mindeord over afdøde medlemmer. Oversigt over Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Virksomhed (1950-51), pp. 61-67.
    This obituary includes a photo of Bohr.

  8. Petersen, Richard: Harald Bohr 22/4 1887 - 22/1 1951. Meddelelser fra Akademiet for de Tekniske Videnskaber, No. 1, (1951), pp. 5-18.
    This obituary includes a list of Bohr's publications.

  9. Petersen, Richard: Harald Bohr 22. april 1887 - 22. januar 1951. Polyteknikeren 17 (1951), pp. 75-6.


Obituaries in newspapers

Except for one this is all Danish newspapers.



Encyclopedia articles of Bohr

Heegaard, Poul:
Bohr, Harald August. Dansk biografisk Leksikon, Bind III. 2. udgave. Redigeret af Svend Dahl og Povl Engelstoft. J. H. Schultz Forlag, København 1933-44, pp. 375-76.
Article in Danish.

Heegaard, Poul:
Bohr, Harald August. Dansk biografisk Haandleksikon, Bind I. Redigeret af Svend Dahl og Povl Engelstoft. Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag, København og Kristiania 1920, pp. 181-82.
Article in Danish.

Jessen, Børge:
Bohr, Harald. Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Volume III. Edited by Charles Coulston Gillispie. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1972, pp. 238-39.

Jessen, Børge:
Bohr, Harald August. Dansk biografisk leksikon, bind 2. 3. udgave. Redigeret af S. C. Bech. Gyldendal, København 1979, pp. 307-09.
Article in Danish.



Articles on the World Wide Web of Bohr

Last updated: 2000.06.11, 1999.05.14