Author(s): Gillian Turner

Popular Science

Publication delayed, now due November 2009. In Roman legend, a shepherd named Magnes, climbing a rocky hillside, was shocked to find that he could hardly move: his iron-studded boots and iron-tipped rod kept sticking to the rocks. Thus was recorded a mysterious natural phenomenon - magnetism - that would intrigue scientists and other ordinary mortals. What was this invisible force? What caused it? Even after the compass was invented, no-one understood what caused its needle to swing. Astonishingly, the answer to the mystery was not fully revealed until the advent of supercomputers. "North Pole South Pole" is the biography of geomagnetism; the story of a quest that occupied scientific geniuses for a millenium. This absorbing book will make you marvel at the inner workings of our planet and its magnetic shield, without such life as we know it would be impossible. Gillian Turner is a geophysicist and university lecturer who has received awards for clear and compelling sience communication.