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7. Magnetism after Gilbert |
![]() ![]() Review #1 ![]() Review #2 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Henry Gellibrand (soft "g") published in 1635 evidence that this difference slowly changed with time. That was an unsettling discovery. It meant that observations of the local compass bearing became inaccurate after some decades and therefore had to be repeated from time to time. And from a theoretical angle, how could the magnetic properties of the Earth undergo such gradual change? No known magnet behaved that way. Edmond Halley, of comet fame, came up in 1692 with an ingenious explanation. The interior of the Earth, he claimed, consisted of layers, spheres within spheres. Each sphere was independently magnetized, and each rotated slowly with respect to the others.
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Author and Curator: Dr. David P. Stern
Mail to Dr.Stern: earthmag("at" symbol)phy6.org
Last updated 25 November 2001
Re-formatted 19 March 2006