Driving Force. The Natural Magic of Magnets

Livingston, James D.

ISBN 10: 0674216458 / ISBN 13: 9780674216457

Published by Harvard University Press, 1996

About this Item

A crisp, clean, tightly bound softcover copy presenting light creasing to spine from having been previously gently read and presenting light shelf wear only. Seller Inventory # 27886

Bibliographic Details

Title: Driving Force. The Natural Magic of Magnets

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Publication Date: 1996

Binding: Softcover

Condition: Very Good+

Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket As Issued

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Driving Force unfolds the long and colorful history of magnets: how they guided (or misguided) Columbus; mesmerized eighteenth-century Paris but failed to fool Benjamin Franklin; lifted AC power over its rival, DC, despite all the animals, one human among them, executed along the way; led Einstein to the theory of relativity; helped defeat Hitler's U-boats; inspired writers from Plato to Dave Barry. In a way that will delight and instruct even the nonmathematical among us, James Livingston shows us how scientists today are creating magnets and superconductors that can levitate high-speed trains, produce images of our internal organs, steer high-energy particles in giant accelerators, and--last but not least--heat our morning coffee. From the "new" science of materials to everyday technology, Driving Force makes the workings of magnets a matter of practical wonder. The book will inform and entertain technical and nontechnical readers alike and will give them a clearer sense of the force behind so much of the working world.

Product Description:

The Natural Magic of Magnets