Klareboderne / Købmagergade - birthplace of Niels Stensen
This picture of the mature Niels Steensen hangs
at the Medical Museion. Courtesy of the Medical
Museion, Copenhagen.
On the street Klareboderne, close to its intersection with Købmagergade, there is a plaque on the wall that commemorates the birthplace of Niels Steensen (or Stensen; in Latin, Steno):
HER FØDTES NIELS STENSEN 1638 1686 ANATOM GEOLOG BISKOP
(The birthplace of Niels Stensen, 1638-1686, anatomist geologist bishop)
Steensen made fundamental discoveries in anatomy: ‘‘Steno's duct,'' the excretory duct of the salivary glands, and in mineralogy ‘‘Steno's law,'' according to which the angles between crystal surfaces of a given species of mineral are characteristic constants independent of the crystal's size.
He is known as the father of geology and for having established the science of paleontology.