Editing Kristian Birkeland (section)

==Life and death==
Birkeland was born in Christiania ([[Oslo]] today) to Reinart Birkeland and Ingeborg (née Ege)<ref>{{cite book |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |last=Hockey |first=Thomas |year=2009 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-387-31022-0 |access-date=22 August 2012 |url=http://www.springerreference.com/docs/html/chapterdbid/58163.html}}</ref> and wrote his first scientific paper at the age of 18. Birkeland married Ida Charlotte Hammer in May 1905. They had no children and, due to Birkeland's preoccupation with his work, they divorced in 1911.<ref name="Plife">{{Cite journal|url=http://www.fys.uio.no/plasma/historie/birkeland/|title=Olav Christian Bernhard Birkeland|author=Professor Alf Egeland|journal=Research Group for Plasma and Space Physics, University of Oslo}}</ref>

Suffering from severe [[paranoia]] due to his use of [[barbital]] as a sleeping aid, he died under mysterious circumstances in his room in the Hotel Seiyoken in [[Tokyo]] while visiting colleagues at the [[University of Tokyo]]. A post-mortem revealed that Birkeland had taken 10 g of  barbital the night he died, instead of the 0.5 g recommended. The time of death was estimated at 3am on 15 June 1917.<ref name=Jago/> Some authors have claimed that he committed suicide.<ref name=Murdin>{{Cite book|chapter=Birkeland, Kristian (1868–1917)|year=2001|author=Murdin, P.|title=The Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics|editor=Murdin, P.|page=5443|isbn=978-0-333-75088-9|bibcode = 2001eaa..bookE5443.|doi=10.1888/0333750888/5443}}</ref> "On the nightstand lay a revolver".<ref>{{cite news|author1=John Gustavsen|title=Haldde|publisher=[[Klassekampen]]|date=2016-02-01|page=32|author1-link=John Gustavsen}}</ref>