Chasing the Aurora Borealis

On January 31, 1913, King Haakon VII of Norway went to the University of Oslo to hear a lecture by the physicist Kristian Birkeland, who believed that he had unlocked the secrets of the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights. If all went well, the rays would interact with the sphere’s magnetic field, producing eerie flashes of light that replicated, in miniature, the aurora borealis. For the tourist, the question arises: what do you do when there’s no prospect of seeing the lights, which is much of the time?

Source: www.newyorker.com