The son of a pharmacist, Hans Oersted was born on August 14, 1777, in Rudkjöbing, Langeland, Denmark. He began training to follow in his father's footsteps, but instead of continuing on to a career solely in chemistry, he chose to become a physicist. He received a Ph.D. in 1799 at the University of Copenhagen for his dissertation on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). After traveling through Europe, he returned to the University in 1806 and was appointed professor of physics and chemistry.

In 1800 Oersted had learned of Alessandro Volta's invention of the electric battery (or "voltaic pile") and, like many experimenters of that period, became interested in electrical phenomena. Discovering a connection between electricity and magnetism was of special interest to scientists at that time. As early as 1813, Oersted had predicted there was a relationship between the two, but he based his prediction on philosophical grounds, not as...