North Pole, South Pole The Epic Quest to Solve the Great Mystery of Earth’s Magnetism

by Turner PhD, Gillian

• ISBN13: 9781615190317
• ISBN10: 1615190317
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-01-11
• Publisher: The Experiment

Summary

North Pole, South Pole traces an enduring question through its rich history of great thinkers, superstition, and controversy#xE2;#xAC;#x1D; right up to today#xE2;#xAC;"s startling conclusions Why do compass needles point north#xE2;#xAC;#x1D;but not quite north? What guides the migration of birds, whales, and fish across the world#xE2;#xAC;"s oceans? How is Earth able to sustain life under an onslaught of solar wind and cosmic radiation? For centuries, the world#xE2;#xAC;"s great scientific minds have grappled with these questions, all rooted in the same phenomenon#xE2;#xAC;#x1D;Earth#xE2;#xAC;"s magnetism. Over 2,000 years after the invention of the compass, Einstein called the source of Earth#xE2;#xAC;"s magnetic field one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of physics. Here, for the first time, is the complete story of the quest to understand Earth#xE2;#xAC;"s magnetism#xE2;#xAC;#x1D;from the ancient Greeks#xE2;#xAC;" fascination with lodestone, to the discovery that the North Pole has not always been in the North#xE2;#xAC;#x1D;and to the astonishing modern conclusions that finally revealed the true source. Richly illustrated and skillfully told, North Pole, South Pole unfolds the human story behind the science: that of the inquisitive, persevering, and often dissenting thinkers who unlocked the secrets at our planet#xE2;#xAC;"s core.

Author Biography

Gillian Turner is a senior lecturer in physics and geophysics at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. The winner of numerous awards for excellence in teaching and science communication, Turner has published over fifty articles in scientific journals. This is her first book.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	p. x
Main Characters	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
The Mystery of Magnetism	p. 5
Voyages of Discovery	p. 20
Magnus Magnes	p. 32
The Wandering Compass Needle	p. 48
Measuring the Force	p. 63
Of Forces and Fields	p. 78
The Third Element	p. 101
The Magnetic Crusade	p. 114
The Core of the Matter	p. 130
Reading the Rocks	p. 151
Poles Flipped, Continents Adrift	p. 167
The Story on the Seafloor	p. 185
Unraveling the Record	p. 195
In Search of a Solution	p. 213
The Geodynamo	p. 224
Epilogue	p. 238
Glossary	p. 246
Select Bibliography	p. 257
Illustration Credits	p. 259
Acknowledgments	p. 263
Index	p. 265
About the Author	p. 272
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