num_pages: 272
description: Why do compass needles point northbut not quite north? What guides the migration of birds whales and fish across the worlds oceans? How is Earth able to sustain life under an onslaught of solar wind and cosmic radiation? For centuries the worlds great scientists have grappled with these questions all rooted in the same phenomenonEarths magnetism. Over 2000 years after the invention of the compass Einstein called the source of Earths magnetic field one of greatest unsolved mysteries of physics. Here for the first time is the complete history of the quest to understand Earths magnetismfrom the ancient Greeks fascination with lodestone to the geological discovery that the North Pole has not always been in the Northand 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 planets core.
language: English
title: North Pole, South Pole: The Epic Quest to Solve the Great Mystery of Earth’s Magnetism
publisher: The Experiment