Why do compass needles point north-but not quite north? What guides the migration of birds, whales, and fish across the world's oceans? How is Earth able to sustain life under an onslaught of solar wind and cosmic radiation? For centuries, the world's great scientists have grappled with these questions, all rooted in the same phenomenon: Earth's magnetism. Over two thousand years after the invention of the compass, Einstein called the source of Earth's magnetic field one of greatest unsolved mysteries of physics. Here, for the first time, is the complete history of the quest to understand the planet's attractive pull-from the ancient Greeks' fascination with lodestone to the geological discovery that the North Pole has not always been in the North-and 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 planet's core.
"By deftly combining threads from science and history, Turner weaves a fascinating geophysical tale that spans several millennia."
Science News
"[An] engaging appreciation of science at work discovering the mysteries of magnetism."
Kirkus Reviews
"A compelling narrative of the two-thousand-year scientific struggle to unlock the innermost secrets of the cosmic speck of dust we call home. Engagingly written in a lively style accessible to all."
M. E. (Ted) Evans, Professor Emeritus, department of physics, University of Alberta, Edmon
