TABLE OF CONTENTS Quod superest, agere incipiam quo foedere fiat
naturae, lapis hic ut ferrum ducere possit,
quern Magneta vocant partio de nomine Grai,
Magnetum quia fit patriis in finibus ortus
hunc homines lapidem mirantur; ...
.........
Hoc genus in rebus firmandumst multa prius quam
ipsius rei rationem reddere possis,
et nimium longis ambagibus est adeundum;
Lucretius De Rerum Natura
To pass on, I will begin to discuss by what law of nature it comes about that iron can be attracted by that stone which the Greeks call magnet from the name of its home, because it is found within the national boundaries of the Magnetes. This stone astonishes men ...
In matters of this sort many principles have to be established before you can give a reason for the thing itself, and you must approach by exceedingly long and roundabout ways;
There are some curious paradoxes in the story of magnetism that make the topic of considerable interest. On the one hand, the lodestone was one of the earliest known applications of science to industry the compass for shipping; and ferromagnetism is of even more crucial importance to industrial society today than it was to early navigators. On the other hand, the origin of magnetism eluded explanation for a long time, and the theory is still not able to account for all the experimental observations.
It is supposed that the Chinese used the compass around 2500 BC. This may not be true, but it is quite certain that the power...
