Preface. Playing with the universe -- Part I. Magnet -- The beginning of things -- The unpaired spinning electron -- Parking in the shadow of magnetism's forgotten man -- Into whose embrace iron leaps -- Revolutions on paper -- The Earth;s magnetic soul -- Voyage into the underworld -- The greatest scientific undertaking the world had ever seen -- The rock that turned the world upside down -- Part II. Current -- Experiment in Copenhagen -- A very intimate relationship -- Jars full of lightning -- The apothecary's son -- The bookbinder's apprentice -- Magnets making currents -- The lines that fill the air -- Part III. Core -- The contorting gyre -- Shocks inside the Earth -- Pharaohs, fairies, and a tar-paper shack -- Zebra skins under the sea -- At the outer edge of the dynamo -- Anomaly to the South -- The worst physics movie ever -- The great hazardous spinning sphere of sodium -- Part IV. Switch -- Looking up -- Horrors the lights foretold -- Lethal patches -- The cost of catastrophe -- Trout noses and pigeon beaks -- A suit of stiff black crayon.
Summary:
A prize-winning science journalist narrates the history of electromagnetism and discusses how the earth{u2019}s magnetic force field is eroding 10 times faster than previously believed, which will result in pole reversal and seriously dire consequences for modern technology.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.