Tumours and tectonics: magnets making a mark
The Naked Scientists Podcast
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The History of Magnetism
Natural magnets are rocks called loadstones rich in an oxide that have been magnetized by lightning. The first good use of them was made by the Chinese over 2,000 years ago. Their application was geomancy or feng shui. It was only about a thousand years later that people realized the effect with a suspended iron needle could enable navigation far from land across the trackless ocean.
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