/kloc-at the age of 0/6, Andersen first met 44-year-old Oster in Copenhagen. At that time, Oster was famous for discovering the magnetic effect of electric current. Six years later, Andersen returned to Copenhagen after finishing grammar school elsewhere. Since then, he has been invited to visit the Oster family once a week, and even after the death of Oster, he is still a guest of the Oster family. Another habit is that every Christmas morning, Andersen will go to Oster's house to help decorate the Christmas tree, and write some short poems and paste them on Oster's Christmas gifts for the children. Andersen once said, "Oster is probably my favorite person". 1829, when Andersen was admitted to the University of Copenhagen, Oster was the examiner. Therefore, the two of them are first of all teachers and students. Later, the teacher-student relationship developed into a friend relationship. As a result, when Andersen wrote to Oster, he sometimes stopped addressing each other in a polite way and called himself "Little Hans Christian" and called each other "Big Hans Christian". Andersen also has a good relationship with Oster's children and has a crush on Oster's little daughter. Andersen is too familiar with the Osters. His fairy tale Two Brothers, written in 1859, is based on Oster and his brother Anders Sando (who grew up to be a jurist). Two Brothers describes Oster's childhood when he hated superstition all his life. "Brother hasn't got up yet; My brother stood at the window and stared at the rising water vapor on the grass. This is not an elf dancing, as the honest old servant said; He knows a lot, so he doesn't believe this. That's water vapor, which is hotter than air, so it rises. "
Their friendship is very important to their professional development and enriches each other's spiritual life. Andersen's creation is deeply influenced by Oster's view of nature. Oster tried to write poetry and prose, and his poems such as Airship came out. Oster's moral support is of great and even decisive significance to Andersen's writing and artistic creation. Andersen drew some sketches during his trip to Italy in 1833- 1834. Oster was the first person to see the potential of these works of art, and he also advised Andersen to travel more and observe more. 1835, Andersen published his first novel The Impromptu Poet and his first collection of works containing fairy tales. Oster had a good eye for pearls and said to Andersen, "Impromptu poets will make you famous and fairy tales will make you immortal." .
The two exchanged many views on the relationship between belief and knowledge, technological inventions at that time, and the position of science in art, which influenced and inspired each other. For example, Oster established a holistic view very early, emphasizing the connection and similarity between nature and human spirit. He believes that what is equally sacred and eternal (or "reason") is embodied in natural phenomena, in human creation and in human creation (such as art). In this way, he solved the potential incompatibility between belief (religion) and knowledge (science) This idea immediately caused a buzz among Andersen. He wrote a long letter to Oster, which said, "Our Lord has no objection to us knowing him through thinking, because he has given us the ability to think;" I don't want to look at god in a daze; I want to open my eyes; I want to see and know that even if I can't achieve other goals besides becoming a believer, at least my mind is full. " The fairy tale Zhong Yuan published by Andersen 1845, Water Drop published by 1848 and Travels in Sweden published by 185 1 year all left traces of this holistic view. The communication between them also exerted a subtle influence on Oster, who devoted a chapter to the "relationship between science and poetry" in his book Spirit of Nature, which expounded the holistic view.
Both of them are optimistic about the benefits of scientific and technological progress to mankind. 1853, Andersen published a fairy tale "After the Millennium" similar to science fiction, which actually predicted the invention of the airplane and the construction of the English Channel Cross-Harbour Tunnel. Oster believes that balloons will play a great role in meteorological research and promote the progress of meteorology, so that human beings can finally predict the weather situation anywhere and at any time.
Of course, the two are not without difference. Oster argues that the expression of poetry should never deviate from scientific facts, but Andersen doesn't think so. Andersen believes that poetry should draw inspiration from nature and science, rather than describe reality mechanically. Another difference is that Oster condemns any superstitious thoughts and behaviors, and things like witches and witchcraft are always inevitable in Andersen's fairy tales.
In a word, Andersen thinks that Oster is like an amiable, inspiring and well-informed father and friend, while Oster regards Andersen as a bosom friend who is full of admiration for himself, a conversation partner full of whimsy, and a deep person in charge who also publicizes his holistic natural philosophy in poetic language. Their friendship is a living testimony that science and humanities can and should be integrated.