23/01/2018

Carl Størmer (1874-1957): Mathematician and paparazzo in his spare time.

The Norwegian mathematician and physicist Carl Størmer became known for his work on Number Theory and for studying the movement of charged particles in the magnetosphere and the formation of auroras. But, if he had lived in the 21st century, he would certainly have ended up involved in some incident because of his peculiar hobby: photographing people with a hidden camera.

The first (and perhaps only) mathematician-paparazzo in history was born in 1874 in Skien, Norway. He studied mathematics between 1892 and 1897 at the Royal Frederick University, now the University of Oslo. He pursued his doctorate at the Sorbonne University (Paris) between 1898 and 1900, where he was a colleague of Picard, Poincaré, Painlevé, Jordan, among others.

He developed a taste for photography around the age of 19, while still a student. He used to wear a spy camera under his vest to take portraits of famous people on the streets of the Norwegian capital. In these endeavors, he took pictures of the playwright Henrik Ibsen and the philologist Ivar Aasen. Nearing his 70th birthday, he held an exhibition of these images.

He was a professor at the University of Oslo for 43 years and the first president of the Norwegian Mathematical Society. His influence in academic circles led to his affiliation with the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo, membership in the Royal Society, and as a corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences.

Furthermore, he was a plenary speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians on three occasions — 1908 (Rome), 1924 (Toronto), and 1936 (Olso), where he also served as president of the Congress. He was also an invited speaker at the ICM in 1920 (Strasbourg) and 1932 (Zurich). He died at the age of 82 in 1957. He is the grandfather of the mathematician Erling Størmer.

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