Preface 1. A Magical Force Einstein and Me Paper Clips and Refrigerators James Bond and Jaws Hidden Magnets Facts about the Force 2. Romancing the Stones "A Perverse Willfulness" Loving Stones Inside the Loving Stones Romancing from Afar Looking for Lodestones A Magnetic Love Song 3. Magnus Magnes The Great Magnet Reading the Rocks Undercurrents Cosmic Currents Biocompasses 4. Supermagnets A New Science The Elements of Things Improving on Lodestones Better and Bitter Electromagnets Microthings and Megathings 5. Superconducting Magnets Amps, Volts, and Ohms The Big Chill Superconductors and Ohmless Electromagnets Big and Little Science The Woodstock of Physics 6. Inside Magnets and Superconductors In a Spin The Magnetic Domain Harder and Softer Hard Superconductors 7. Attractors, Movers, and Shakers Using the Force Attractors Movers Shakers, Woofers, and Tweeters 8. AC, RF TV, and EAS AC/DC Catching the Waves Catching the Crooks Improving on Iron 9. Thanks for the Memories Remembering Things Passed Bugs and Bits A Future in Films 10. Up with Magnets! Fighting Gravity with Levity Maglev Bearing Up Flying Trains 11. Magnets at War Hitler's Secret Weapon Hunting for Red October Magnetrons and Radar Calutrons and Little Boy 12. Magnets at Play Child's Play Magnets in Fiction Magnets of Magic Supersenses 13. Mesmerism and Magnetic Therapy Healing with Magnets Animal Magnetism Mineral Magnetism 14. Medicine and MRI Magnets in Medicine Personal Images Nuclear Magnets Magnetic Resonance The Imaging Technology Magnets for MRI 15. Biomagnetism Living Magnets The Magnetic Mind Killer Gauss? The Birds and Bees 16. Source of the Force Clark Kent and Superman Alice and the Red Queen Dave Barry and Virtual Effluvium 17. Pulling It Together Magical Mystery Tour Wonders of the World Sources and Suggested Readings Acknowledgments Index
Here is everything you ever, ever wanted to know about magnets...Covering subjects ranging from the science of magnetic forces to that great magnet in the sky, our planet, to the fakes who assure you that magnets will improve your wine and your sexual prowess, Livingston has written a book that is easy, entertaining, and often fascinating. -- Leon M. Lederman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1988, and author of The God Particle The book deals exclusively with magnets, describing past, present, and future applications and history. Livingston's light and conversational style makes the material easy to read, quite accessible, and rather entertaining. His lifetime of experience with magnets, both at MIT and while doing research and development with General Electric, which he refers to often, comes through is his thorough treatment of the subject. -- Joel M. Rosenberg, The Tech (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) In about 300 pages [Livingston] takes us on a magical mystery tour...For the layperson, it is a wonderful way to learn about how magnets are hidden in almost all modern technology used in war and peace--radar, microwave, ovens, maglev trains, etc...For the science teacher, I cannot think of a better way to integrate all disciplines of math and life and physical sciences than this book...I can see teachers using the information for their own self-enjoyment and in the classroom as a great tool for integrated science teaching: it could easily be a text book in the hands of a great teacher. -- Ken Brady, Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers
James D. Livingston is a former physicist at General Electric and lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[A] delightful little book...[Livingston] connects magnetism to
both past and present human culture and its underlying technology.
This connection ranges over an incredible breadth of topics and
personalities, a few (nonscientist) examples of the latter being
James Bond, Plato, Ben Jonson, Gilbert and Sullivan, Jonathan
Swift, Mary Baker Eddy, Dick Tracy, Uri Geller and Madonna...A
smashing book...I wish there were more science books for the
general population written with so engaging an approach.
*Nature*
Livingston introduces magnetic principles through eight "facts
about the force," and uses these to explain the theory behind later
examples of applications. Mixed in with this excellent educational
approach is a history of magnetism and its influence, which takes
in everything from Plato to Gilbert and Sullivan...The book is an
excellent and comprehensive look at magnetism and its applications.
It is a good read for materials (and other) scientists, a thorough
introduction to the subject for the layman, and, to boot, a useful
reference text for students.
*Materials World*
Here is everything you ever, ever wanted to know about
magnets...Covering subjects ranging from the science of magnetic
forces to that great magnet in the sky, our planet, to the fakes
who assure you that magnets will improve your wine and your sexual
prowess, Livingston has written a book that is easy, entertaining,
and often fascinating.
*Leon M. Lederman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1988, and
author of The God Particle*
This fascinating book gives a historical view of science
undergirding the technology we use daily at home and in the
workplace...[Livingston's] clear explanations, background
information, and creative use of analogies guide any interested
reader smoothly through the concepts [such as electromagnetic
theory, the microstructure of matter, and quantum
electrodynamics]...Livingston writes with a passion that grows out
of his lifelong interest in materials science, and his personal
experiences are woven throughout this scientific adventure story.
He has a knack for keeping the science stimulating and the
historical connections exciting...I recommend this book highly for
readers who want to know the science involved in everyday
applications of technology...This is truly a tour de force on
magnetism.
*Science Books & Films*
Livingston's engaging style and evident love of his subject should
go far in attracting readers to a study of magnetism. Many of the
applications discussed in the book are fascinating in their own
right...Driving Force is a welcome addition to the library of books
that seek to popularize hard science.
*American Journal of Physics*
Any book that has jacket blurbs from D. Allan Bromley, Leon
Lederman (with pun) and Dave Barry has got to be worth
investigating. For those who maintain a collection of books in the
style of David Feldman's When Did Wild Poodles Roam the Earth?
(HarperCollins, 1992) or David Macaulay's The Way Things Work
(Houghton Mifflin, 1988), this is another one for the
shelf...Livingston has devoted much of his career to magnetism,
first at General Electric as a physicist in the materials
department and more recently as a senior lecturer in materials
science at MIT. He also tells a good story...[T]he book is mostly a
serious and comprehensive discussion of the field, carefully
crafted for the nonspecialist...I highly recommend the book, both
for enjoyable reading and as a valuable source of information on
the history of magnetism.
*Physics Today*
The book deals exclusively with magnets, describing past, present,
and future applications and history. Livingston's light and
conversational style makes the material easy to read, quite
accessible, and rather entertaining. His lifetime of experience
with magnets, both at MIT and while doing research and development
with General Electric, which he refers to often, comes through is
his thorough treatment of the subject.
*Joel M. Rosenberg, The Tech (Massachusetts Institute of
Technology)*
Driving Force is a popular science book about magnets and how they
have affected our lives, written to be easily understood by any
intelligent and interested person...After covering the basic
physics and material science of magnetism in the early chapters,
Livingston discusses application of magnets to a wide variety of
instruments and technologies. Those include the use of magnets in
home appliances, toys, magnetically levitating trains, and medical
imaging devices. Perhaps what distinguishes this book from most
others of its type is that throughout, one also reads about
connections with history, politics, economics, literature, art,
popular culture.
*Choice*
Dr. James Livingston makes the physics of magnetism clear in this
marvelous book, Driving Force. Livingston writes in a delightfully
readable style. Readers will not only learn marvelous facts about
lodestones, how the earth generates its own electromagnetic field,
and the role of magnetism in nearly every modern technology, but
they will also see how pseudosciences have exploited the mystery of
magnetism.
*National Council Against Health Fraud Newsletter*
In about 300 pages [Livingston] takes us on a magical mystery
tour...For the layperson, it is a wonderful way to learn about how
magnets are hidden in almost all modern technology used in war and
peace--radar, microwave, ovens, maglev trains, etc...For the
science teacher, I cannot think of a better way to integrate all
disciplines of math and life and physical sciences than this
book...I can see teachers using the information for their own
self-enjoyment and in the classroom as a great tool for integrated
science teaching: it could easily be a text book in the hands of a
great teacher.
*Ken Brady, Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers*
Dr. Livingston presumes that some consumers, perhaps latently
curious about their microwave oven beyond its instant zapping
capability, wonder how the contraption works. In that appliance, as
in dozens of others, Livingston describes the key as a magnetic
device originally invented for a completely different purpose, in
this case, for the radar that defeated U-boats in World War II...On
top of making unexpected technology connections, Livingston
simplifies Maxwell's electromagnetic theories into nine principles
of magnetic behavior, whose action he regularly reminds the reader
of during his crystal clear explanations of what, for example,
makes a maglev train levitate or magnetic resonance imaging
resonate...A stimulating variety of science, history, and
technology delivered enthusiastically.
*Booklist*
[A] delightful little book...[Livingston] connects magnetism to
both past and present human culture and its underlying technology.
This connection ranges over an incredible breadth of topics and
personalities, a few (nonscientist) examples of the latter being
James Bond, Plato, Ben Jonson, Gilbert and Sullivan, Jonathan
Swift, Mary Baker Eddy, Dick Tracy, Uri Geller and Madonna...A
smashing book...I wish there were more science books for the
general population written with so engaging an approach. -- Paul M.
Grant * Nature *
Livingston introduces magnetic principles through eight "facts
about the force," and uses these to explain the theory behind later
examples of applications. Mixed in with this excellent educational
approach is a history of magnetism and its influence, which takes
in everything from Plato to Gilbert and Sullivan...The book is an
excellent and comprehensive look at magnetism and its applications.
It is a good read for materials (and other) scientists, a thorough
introduction to the subject for the layman, and, to boot, a useful
reference text for students. -- Steve Hill * Materials World *
Here is everything you ever, ever wanted to know about
magnets...Covering subjects ranging from the science of magnetic
forces to that great magnet in the sky, our planet, to the fakes
who assure you that magnets will improve your wine and your sexual
prowess, Livingston has written a book that is easy, entertaining,
and often fascinating. -- Leon M. Lederman, winner of the Nobel
Prize in Physics, 1988, and author of The God Particle
This fascinating book gives a historical view of science
undergirding the technology we use daily at home and in the
workplace...[Livingston's] clear explanations, background
information, and creative use of analogies guide any interested
reader smoothly through the concepts [such as electromagnetic
theory, the microstructure of matter, and quantum
electrodynamics]...Livingston writes with a passion that grows out
of his lifelong interest in materials science, and his personal
experiences are woven throughout this scientific adventure story.
He has a knack for keeping the science stimulating and the
historical connections exciting...I recommend this book highly for
readers who want to know the science involved in everyday
applications of technology...This is truly a tour de force
on magnetism. * Science Books & Films *
Livingston's engaging style and evident love of his subject should
go far in attracting readers to a study of magnetism. Many of the
applications discussed in the book are fascinating in their own
right...Driving Force is a welcome addition to the library
of books that seek to popularize hard science. -- G. Lyle Hoffman *
American Journal of Physics *
Any book that has jacket blurbs from D. Allan Bromley, Leon
Lederman (with pun) and Dave Barry has got to be worth
investigating. For those who maintain a collection of books in the
style of David Feldman's When Did Wild Poodles Roam the
Earth? (HarperCollins, 1992) or David Macaulay's The Way
Things Work (Houghton Mifflin, 1988), this is another one for
the shelf...Livingston has devoted much of his career to magnetism,
first at General Electric as a physicist in the materials
department and more recently as a senior lecturer in materials
science at MIT. He also tells a good story...[T]he book is mostly a
serious and comprehensive discussion of the field, carefully
crafted for the nonspecialist...I highly recommend the book, both
for enjoyable reading and as a valuable source of information on
the history of magnetism. -- Frederick R. Fickett * Physics Today
*
The book deals exclusively with magnets, describing past, present,
and future applications and history. Livingston's light and
conversational style makes the material easy to read, quite
accessible, and rather entertaining. His lifetime of experience
with magnets, both at MIT and while doing research and development
with General Electric, which he refers to often, comes through is
his thorough treatment of the subject. -- Joel M. Rosenberg, The
Tech (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Driving Force is a popular science book about magnets and
how they have affected our lives, written to be easily understood
by any intelligent and interested person...After covering the basic
physics and material science of magnetism in the early chapters,
Livingston discusses application of magnets to a wide variety of
instruments and technologies. Those include the use of magnets in
home appliances, toys, magnetically levitating trains, and medical
imaging devices. Perhaps what distinguishes this book from most
others of its type is that throughout, one also reads about
connections with history, politics, economics, literature, art,
popular culture. * Choice *
Dr. James Livingston makes the physics of magnetism clear in this
marvelous book, Driving Force. Livingston writes in a
delightfully readable style. Readers will not only learn marvelous
facts about lodestones, how the earth generates its own
electromagnetic field, and the role of magnetism in nearly
every modern technology, but they will also see how pseudosciences
have exploited the mystery of magnetism. * National Council Against
Health Fraud Newsletter *
In about 300 pages [Livingston] takes us on a magical mystery
tour...For the layperson, it is a wonderful way to learn about how
magnets are hidden in almost all modern technology used in war and
peace--radar, microwave, ovens, maglev trains, etc...For the
science teacher, I cannot think of a better way to integrate all
disciplines of math and life and physical sciences than this
book...I can see teachers using the information for their own
self-enjoyment and in the classroom as a great tool for integrated
science teaching: it could easily be a text book in the hands of a
great teacher. -- Ken Brady, Massachusetts Association of Science
Teachers
Dr. Livingston presumes that some consumers, perhaps latently
curious about their microwave oven beyond its instant zapping
capability, wonder how the contraption works. In that appliance, as
in dozens of others, Livingston describes the key as a magnetic
device originally invented for a completely different purpose, in
this case, for the radar that defeated U-boats in World War II...On
top of making unexpected technology connections, Livingston
simplifies Maxwell's electromagnetic theories into nine principles
of magnetic behavior, whose action he regularly reminds the reader
of during his crystal clear explanations of what, for example,
makes a maglev train levitate or magnetic resonance imaging
resonate...A stimulating variety of science, history, and
technology delivered enthusiastically. -- Gilbert Taylor * Booklist
*
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