The purpose, life, and hazards of the Earth's magnetic field are discussed as they relate to magnetic storms. This includes their impact on animals, auroras, and even compasses. Interactive features are also included in this...

Vasarosnamenyi Baro Eotvos Lorand, better known as Roland Eotvos or Lorand Eotvos throughout much of the world, was a Hungarian physicist who is most recognized for his extensive experimental work involving gravity, but who also made...

Physicist Felix Bloch developed a non-destructive technique for precisely observing and measuring the magnetic properties of nuclear particles. He called his technique "nuclear induction," but nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) soon became...

Chemist Paul Lauterbur pioneered the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for medical imaging. He developed a technique, now known as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in the early 1970s that involves the introduction of gradients in...

William Gilbert was an English physician and natural philosopher who wrote a six-volume treatise that compiled all of the information regarding magnetism and electricity known at the time. The work included descriptions of many of...

A well illustrated activity where students investigate and draw the magnetic field lines created with a bar magnet and a compass.

An interesting activity where students make a ferrofluid (a liquid with magnetic particles floating in it) and explore how it responds to a magnetic field. Well illustrated.

Most of us have seen the rainbow-hued breakdown of the composition of light. Light is of course a form of energy. A magnetic field changes the behavior of light- a phenomenon known as the Zeeman effect.

A reference page to learn about magnetic flux means and how to calculate it. Reference page includes explanation and exercise.

William Thomson, known as Lord Kelvin, was one of the most eminent scientists of the nineteenth century and is best known today for inventing the international system of absolute temperature that bears his name. He made contributions to...

This is a hands-on, inquiry-based lesson that includes three magnetic stations in which young scholars or small groups rotate in order to test and discover different magnetic properties and then use their knowledge to build a Maglev...

This site from the Georgia State University contains a good overview of some of the magnetic properties that are common to all materials, such as susceptibility and permeability, and then specific discussion of both diamagnetic and...

Inquiry into the origins of the magnetic compass and how it came to and was used in Europe.

Earth's magnetic poles have reversed themselves throughout its long history. Find out what scientists know about these reversals. A geologic time line shows when the reversals occurred.

A discovery by Hans Christian Orsted forever changed the way scientists think about electricity and magnetism. While preparing to perform an experiment during a lecture at the University of Copenhagen, he found that the magnetized needle...

Anders Celsius is most familiar as the inventor of the temperature scale that bears his name. The Swedish astronomer, however, also is notable as the first person to make a connection between the radiant atmospheric phenomenon known as...

Peter Debye carried out pioneering studies of molecular dipole moments, formulated theories of magnetic cooling and of electrolytic dissociation, and developed an X-ray diffraction technique for use with powdered, rather than...

Walther Meissner discovered while working with Robert Ochsenfeld that superconductors expel relatively weak magnetic fields from their interior and are strongly diamagnetic. This phenomenon, commonly known as the Meissner effect or the...

Although he was not the first person to observe a connection between electricity and magnetism, Andre-Marie Ampere was the first scientist to attempt to theoretically explain and mathematically describe the phenomenon. His contributions...

John Ambrose Fleming was an electronics pioneer who invented the oscillation valve, or vacuum tube, a device that would help make radios, televisions, telephones and even early electronic computers possible. A brilliant innovator,...

At the turn of the 19th century, scientists were beginning to gain a rudimentary understanding of electricity and magnetism, but they knew almost nothing about the relationship between the two. Baltic German physicist Heinrich Lenz took...

This site is a description of the earth's magnetic field, including a section on the "Dynamo effect," a proposed explanation for the origin of the earth's magnetic field.

Learn how magnets were discovered and some of their many uses.

A great introduction to magnetic domains, including pictures which illustrate the effect on domains caused by external applied magnetic fields.