author
Helge Holst
1871–1944
A Danish physicist who turned complex science into lively reading, he helped bring new ideas about technology, evolution, and the atom to a broad audience. His books and editorial work made him an important popular science voice in early 20th-century Denmark.
1 Audiobook
The atom and the Bohr theory of its structure : an elementary presentation
by Helge Holst, Hendrik Anthony Kramers
About the author
Helge Holst was born in Ærøskøbing on July 4, 1871, and died in Gentofte on November 28, 1944. Trained in physics, he earned his degree in 1893 and briefly worked as an assistant at the Polytechnical College before illness pushed him away from regular teaching.
He went on to build a career in writing, editing, and public education. Holst became known as a popular science author, and from 1908 to 1917 he was an editor of the Danish magazine Frem. From 1920 he also worked as a librarian at the Polytechnical College.
His writing focused on making science understandable and exciting for general readers. He published books on inventions and electricity, and he is still remembered internationally for The Atom and the Bohr Theory of Its Structure, written with Hendrik A. Kramers, which helped explain modern atomic theory to a wider audience.