| Authorised form of name | Arrhenius; Svante August (1859 - 1927) |
| Dates | 1859 - 1927 |
| Place of birth | Vik, Sweden |
| Date of birth | 19 February 1859 |
| Place of death | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Date of death | 02/10/1927 |
| Research field | Chemistry |
| Physics |
| Activity | Career:
In 1894 he used Fourier's equations to divide the surface of the planet into small squares and assessed the capacity of each segment to absorb and reflect solar radiation. From this he produced a series of temperature predictions for different latitudes and seasons determined by atmospheric concentrations of Carbon Dioxide that varied from two thirds to three times the then current value. Remarkably, his calculation that a doubling of Carbon Dioxide levels would cause a warming of 5 to 6 degrees Centigrade almost exactly mirrors the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's assessment which puts 5.8 degrees Centigrade at the top of its likely warming range. A polymath interested in everything from immunology to electrical engineering, he was an early investigator of the Northern Lights. After World War I took up political causes, campaigning for immunisation against small-pox.
Medals and prizes:
Nobel Prize (Chemistry) 1903 |
| Membership category | Foreign Member |
| Date of election | 30/06/1910 |
| RSActivity | Medals and prizes:
Davy Medal 1902 |
| PublishedWorks | 'On the influence of carbonic acid in the air upon the temperature of the ground' 1895 Paper presented to the Stockholm Physical Society |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DSB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc Series A 1928 vol 119 pp ix-xix, plate, signed by J W
Article 'Land of the Midnight Sums' in New Scientist 25 January 2003 pp50-51 |
| Code | NA4861 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1910/16 | Arrhenius, Svante August: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| MS/373/1/46 | Letter from Svante Arrhenius, Stockholm, to [Thomas Edward Thorpe] | 25 November 1902 |
| NLB/23/2/513 | Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to Svante Arrhenius, [Foreign Member of the Royal Society] | 21 June 1904 |
| NLB/23/2/254 | Copy letter from Sir Michael Foster, to The Deputy Master, Royal Mint, E. | 6 November 1902 |
| NLB/23/2/257 | Copy letter from Sir Michael Foster, to Professor Svante August Arrhenius, [Foreign Member of the Royal Society] | 6 November 1902 |
| NLB/25/541 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor Svante Augustus Arrhenius, [Fellow of the Royal Society], Rector, Hochschule, Stockholm | 17 November 1902 |
| NLB/71/407 | Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir James Walker, FRS | 3 May 1928 |
| NLB/71/460 | Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir James Walker, Vice President of the Royal Society | 31 May 1928 |
| MS/603/1/32 | Letter from Svante Arrhenius, 17 Wilmslow Road, Withington, Manchester, to [Joseph] Larmor | 13 June 1909 |
| NLB/42/649 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to "Nature" | July 1910 |
| MS/603/1/34 | Letter from Svante Arrhenius, Physical Laboratories, the University, Manchester, to [Joseph] Larmor | n.d. [early June 1909] |
| MS/603/1/33 | Letter from Svante Arrhenius, Experimentalfaltet, to Sir Joseph [Larmor] | 20 December 1910 |