Vilhelm Bjerknes

Vilhelm Friman Koren Bjerknes was born on March 14, 1862, in Christiania. An assistant to Heinrich Hertz in Bonn where he performed pioneering experiments on electromagnetic resonance, Bjerknes turned his attention to hydrodynamics and circulation theorems.

In 1917, Bjerknes founded the Geophysical Institute at Bergen, establishing the famous Bergen School of Meteorology. Alongside his brilliant team, including his son Jacob Bjerknes and Tor Bergeron, he formulated the polar front theory of extratropical cyclones, introducing warm fronts, cold fronts, and air masses to weather prediction. He demonstrated that weather is governed by the laws of thermodynamics and fluid dynamics, laying the foundations for modern numerical weather prediction.