North Pole, South Pole
North Pole, South Pole

Author: Gillian M. Turner

Publisher: The Experiment

Published: 2011-01-11

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1615190317

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Discusses the issues of geomagnetism, including why the Earth's magnetic north differs from its geographic north, how animals use geomagnetism for migration purposes, and the source of the magnetic field.

Fatal Attraction
Fatal Attraction

Author: Patricia Fara

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9781840467291

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'Fatal Attraction' tells the stories of three men who were lured by nature's strangest power, magnetism. Edmond Halley set out to map the Earth's magnetic patterns & improve navigation. Gowin Knight hoped to make a fortune from his inventions and Franz Mesmer claimed that his medical therapy was the revolutionary science of the future.

Hidden Attraction
Hidden Attraction

Author: Gerrit L. Verschuur

Publisher:

Published: 1998-10

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780788157660

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The author, a noted astronomer, traces the history of our fascination with magnetism, from the mystery & superstition that propelled the first alchemical experiments with lodestone, through the more tangible works of Faraday, Maxwell, Hertz & other great pioneers of magnetism, to state-of-the-art theories that see magnetism as a basic force in the universe. Boasting many informative illustrations, this is an adventure of the mind, using the specific phenomenon of magnetism to show how superstition was replaced by experimentation. An uncommonly readable volume . . .the approach is exemplary.Ó Fascinating. Well-written & exciting.Ó

Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher

Author: Paula Findlen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2004-08-02

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 1135948445

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First published in 2004.Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) -- German Jesuit, occultist, polymath - was one of most curious figures in the history of science. He dabbled in all the mysteries of his time: the heavenly bodies, sound amplification, museology, botany, Asian languages, the pyramids of Egypt -- almost anything incompletely understood. Kircher coined the term electromagnetism, printed Sanskrit for the first time in a Western book, and built a famous museum collection. His wild, beautifully illustrated books are sometimes visionary, frequently wrong, and yet compelling documents in the history of ideas. They are being rediscovered in our own time. This volume contains new essays on Kircher and his world by leading historians and historians of science, including Stephen Jay Gould, Ingrid Rowland, Anthony Grafton, Daniel Stoltzenberg, Paula Findlen, and Barbara Stafford.-

The Stars of Galileo Galilei and the Universal Knowledge of Athanasius Kircher
The Stars of Galileo Galilei and the Universal Knowledge of Athanasius Kircher

Author: Roberto Buonanno

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-08-27

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783319375571

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In this fascinating book, the author traces the careers, ideas, discoveries, and inventions of two renowned scientists, Athanasius Kircher and Galileo Galilei, one a Jesuit, the other a sincere man of faith whose relations with the Jesuits deteriorated badly. The Author documents Kircher’s often intuitive work in many areas, including translating the hieroglyphs, developing sundials, and inventing the magic lantern, and explains how Kircher was a forerunner of Darwin in suggesting that animal species evolve. Galileo’s work on scales, telescopes, and sun spots is mapped and discussed, and care is taken to place his discoveries within their cultural environment. While Galileo is without doubt the “winner” in the comparison with Kircher, the latter achieved extraordinary insights by unconventional means. For all Galileo’s fine work, the author believes that scientists do need to regain the power of dreaming, vindicating Kirchner’s view.