The Historical past and Legend of Magnets

Magnetism was found hundreds of years in the past, and magnets have been used for a lot of functions ever since.  Nonetheless, there may be a substantial amount of thriller and controversy surrounding the invention of magnetism.  We’ll discover a number of the numerous legends about magnets, together with how they have been found and a few of their first makes use of.

Round roughly 2500 B.C.E., a younger shepherd boy named Magnes lived close to Mount Ida in Greece, a mountain generally talked about in Greek mythology.  In keeping with the legend, Magnes used to put on sandals with iron soles.  He typically discovered it troublesome to climb up the mountain the place he tended his sheep due to the extreme quantities of pure magnetic mineral, or lodestone, that was current in the rock and soil of the mountain.  The Greeks knew as the fabric “magnets” in honor of his discovery and that is how we’ve come to make use of the phrase “magnet” right this moment.

The primary historic use of lodestones was the event of the compass across the eighth century AD by the Chinese language.  The primarily recorded use was documented by Zheng He of the Yunnan province.  Between the years 1405 and 1433, Zheng He recorded his voyages throughout seven oceans.  The compass Zheng used had markings for factors of the constellations discovered by way of the Sextant, however, the middle of the compass was a spoon formed gadget produced from lodestone.  In later centuries, the lodestone was changed with a metallic needle that was magnetized by vigorously rubbing it in opposition to a chunk of lodestone.  From Zheng He is time ahead, no smart sailor would enterprise out into the ocean without two vital navigational devices, the compass and the sextant.

The Greek thinker Aristotle spoke about magnets greater than 300 years earlier than the delivery of Christ.  He wrote about magnets and their use in cache discount.  Throughout that point, it’s mentioned that docs used magnets therapeutically to scale back muscle spasms and deal with gout.

Cleopatra reportedly wore a chunk of magnetic jewelry on her brow to suppress wrinkles and protect youth.  It’s mentioned that she believed so strongly within the worth of magnetic energy, that she routinely slept on mattress constructed of lodestone to reinforce her youthful look.  Who is aware of how effectively this did or didn’t work, on condition that she solely lived to the age of 39.

In 1777 A.D., France’s Royal Society of Medication performed an in-depth examine in regards to the historical past of magnets and their use in medical apply.  Despite some skepticism and mock from mainstream medical authorities of that point, the Royal Society concluded that magnets could possibly be used medicinally to treatment again and neck ache, complications, circulation issues, sore throats, and quite a few different complaints.

Previous to 1820, the one magnetic substances know to man have been lodestone and different metals that had been rubbed in opposition to a lodestone to magnetize them.  In 1820, a scientist named Hans Christian Oersted, a professor of Science at Copenhagen College, famous that each time he switched on an electrical present close to a compass, the path of the needle moved.  Over the following a number of months, he labored diligently to attempt to clarify and perceive the logic of what he had noticed.  His research led to the electromagnet as we all know it right this moment.  Although Hans Christian Oersted didn’t develop the electromagnet, his experiments instantly led to this new and necessary know-how and a newfound understanding of physics.

From the earliest recorded data of lodestone and magnetism hundreds of years in the past, our understanding of magnets has grown exponentially.  At this time magnets play a task virtually each technologically superior gadget we use, together with computer systems, cars, and cell telephones.  Whereas we have no idea what new magnet applied sciences the long run will maintain for human variety, we could be sure of 1 factor.  As our understanding and data of magnets continue to enhance, the way in which we harness and make the most of the magnetism will proceed to develop and develop as effectively.