North Pole, South Pole: The Epic Quest to Solve the Great Mystery of Earth’s Magnetism

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 2,000 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 Earth€s magnetism€•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.