Latitude & the Magnetic Earth by Stephen Pumfrey, Icon, 拢9.99, ISBN 1840462906
AS Spain鈥檚 Armada was about to set sail to attack England in 1588, Queen Elizabeth I鈥檚 鈥渕ost distinguished man of science鈥�, William Gilbert, was called in to deal with sickness troubling the Queen鈥檚 sailors including Francis Drake. This changed the direction of his life. He spent the next 20 years gathering data and designing countless ingenious experiments, all involving magnetism.
Magnetism was the hot topic of the day because seafaring countries were vying to exploit other lands, particularly those rich in gold. But the irksome navigational problems of determining latitude and longitude held them back. Compasses had long been known, but Gilbert looked at the bar magnet, exploring the idea that Earth was like that. He became the world鈥檚 authority on magnetism. Gilbert wrote his famous De Magnete without leaving his lab, or risking seasickness or shipwreck. His book also introduced the standard for modern experimental science. It sought freedom from the crushing orthodoxies that had clouded previous thinking about magnetism, driving out the blotchy concepts of the Aristotelians and welcoming in some Copernican sanity.
Advertisement
Stephen Pumfrey, a lecturer in the history of science, provides a chunky read with much more to it than at first meets the eye. He marshals his scientific and philosophical themes impressively while adding flesh to the hitherto enigmatic Gilbert.