Hidden Attraction: The History and Mystery of Magnetism (Mystery and History of Magnetism)
Verschuur ( Interstellar Matters ) properly includes the lodestone and quantum electrodynamics in the 400-year lineage of the electric light bulb. Most of Verschuur's history has fueled millons of middle-school science reports: Galvani, Oersted and Ampere coax out of magnetic phenomena the invisible genie of electricity; Farady, Maxwell and Hertz make a theoretical harness for it. But taking matters one step further, Verschuur reveals his larger theme: that simple curiosity about magnetism has led us to equations that can express truths about some aspects of nature itself. Verschuur provides more than bookends of familiar science history, with flourish and style demonstrating the hidden attraction that pulls us ever closer to the central mystery of the universe.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.