ON THE MAGNET, MAGNETIC BODIES ALSO, AND ON THE GREAT MAGNET THE EARTH

By AMELIA ANDERSON

CONTENTS PART 1 ANTIQUITY AND THE MIDDLE AGES CHAPTER 1—ANCIENT GREECE: THE SCIENCE OF MAGNETISM IS BORN §1 EARLY ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN MAGNETISM §2 PLATO AND TIMAEUS §3 MAGNETISM ACCORDING TO PLATO AND PLUTARCH §4 ARISTOTLE’S PHYSICS §5 THEOPHRASTUS AND LATER ARISTOTELIANS CHAPTER 2—THE HELLENISTIC AGE §1 EPICURUS AND ATOMISM §2 LUCRETIUS AND HIS LEGACY §3 MAGNETISM ACCORDING TO LUCRETIUS §4 GALEN’S ON THE NATURAL FACULTIES §5 GALEN AND THE DISPUTE OVER MAGNETISM §6 ALEXANDER OF APHRODISIAS CHAPTER 3—THE DAYS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE §1 AELIAN AND ROMAN SCIENCE §2 DIOSCORIDES AND THE GREEK HERBAL §3 PLINY AND NATURAL HISTORY §4 PLINY’S CONCEPTION OF MAGNETS AS LIVING CREATURES §5 SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY IN THE NATURAL WORLD §6 CLAUDIAN AND AELIAN CHAPTER 4—CHRISTIANITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES §1 SAINT AUGUSTINE AND THE CITY OF GOD §2 FORCES INHERENT IN NATURAL OBJECTS §3 THE ABSENCE OF MEDICAL THEORY IN CHRISTIANITY §4 MARBODE’S DE LAPIDIBUS §5 HILDEGARD VON BINGEN §6 ALBERT THE GREAT’S BOOK OF MINERALS CHAPTER 5—THE DISCOVERY OF MAGNETIC DIRECTIONALITY §1 MEDIEVAL SOCIETY IN TRANSITION §2 THE REDISCOVER AND TRANSLATION OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY §3 THE INTRODUCTION OF THE MARINER’S COMPASS §4 THE DISCOVERY OF MAGNETIC DIRECTIONALITY §5 MICHAEL SCOT AND FREDERICK II CHAPTER 6—THOMAS AQUINAS AND HIS UNDERSTANDING OF MAGNETISM §1 THE STRUCTURE OF KNOWLEDGE IN CHRISTIAN SOCIETY §2 ARISTOTLE AND THE DISCOVERY OF NATURE §3 SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS §4 ARISTOTLE AND HIS SYSTEM OF CAUSALITY §5 THOMAS AQUINAS AND MAGNETISM §6 THE HEAVENS AND THEIR EFFECT ON MAGNETS CHAPTER 7—ROGER BACON AND THE PROPAGATION OF MAGNETIC FORCE §1 ROGER BACON AND HIS NEW PERSPECTIVE §2 BACON ON MATHEMATICS AND EXPERIENCE §3 ROBERT GROSSETESTE §4 MULTIPLICATION OF SPECIES ACCORDING TO BACON §5 THE PROPAGATION OF MAGNETIC FORCE AS ACTION THROUGH A MEDIUM CHAPTER 8—PETRUS PEREGRINUS AND HIS LETTER CONCERNING THE MAGNET §1 THE DISCOVERY OF MAGNETIC POLARITY §2 INQUIRIES INTO THE NATURE OF MAGNETISM §3 PEREGRINUS’S METHODS AND AIMS §4 THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE LETTER CONCERNING THE MAGNET §5 JEAN OF SAINT-AMAND PART 2 RENAISSANCE CHAPTER 9—NICOLAUS CUSANUS AND THE QUANTIFICATION OF MAGNETIC FORCE §1 NICOLAUS CUSANUS AND ON LEARNED IGNORANCE §2 CUSANUS’S CONCEPTION OF THE UNIVERSE §3 THE IMPORTANCE OF NUMBER IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF NATURE §4 CUSANUS’S VIEW OF MAGNETISM CHAPTER 10—THE REDISCOVERY OF THINGS ANCIENT: MAGIC IN THE EARLY RENAISSANCE PERIOD §1 THE REVIVAL OF MAGIC DURING THE RENAISSANCE §2 FOUNDATIONS FOR THE SPREAD OF MAGICAL THOUGHT §3 THE MAGICAL THOUGHT OF PICO AND FICINO §4 MAGNETIC FORCE AS MAGICAL POWER §5 AGRIPPA’S MAGIC: NATURE AS SYMBOL CHAPTER 11—THE AGE OF EXPLORATION AND THE DISCOVERY OF MAGNETIC DECLINATION §1 MAGNETIC MOUNTAINS §2 THE MAGNETIC COMPASS: DISCOVERING THE WORLD §3 COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF MAGNETIC DECLINATION §4 THE QUANTIFICATION OF MAGNETIC DECLINATION §5 THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC POLE: A NEW CONCEPT CHAPTER 12—ROBERT NORMAN AND THE NEWE ATTRACTIVE §1 THE DISCOVERY OF MAGNETIC DIP §2 NORMAN’S OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING MAGNETISM §3 THE NEW PROPONENTS OF NATURAL SCIENCE §4 ROBERT RECORDE AND JOHN DEE CHAPTER 13—MINING AND THE CONTINUED PECULIARITY OF MAGNETISM §1 THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY §2 BIRINGUCCIO’S THE PIROTECHNIA §3 GEORGIUS AGRICOLA §4 ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCHEMY §5 BIRINGUCCIO’S AND AGRICOLA’S UNDERSTANDING OF MAGNETISM CHAPTER 14—PARACELSUS AND MAGNET THERAPY §1 PARACELSUS §2 PARACELSUS’S MEDICINE §3 PARACELSUS’S VIEWS ON MAGNETISM §4 WEAPON SALVE AND PARACELSUS’S POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE CHAPTER 15—CHANGES IN MAGICAL THOUGHT DURING THE LATE RENAISSANCE §1 MAGIC SHEDS ITS MYSTICISM §2 PIETRO POMPONAZZI AND REGINALD SCOT §3 MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL METHODS §4 JOHN DEE AND THE MATHEMATIZATION OF MAGIC §5 CARDANO: MAGIC AND ELECTROMAGNETISM §6 GIORDANO BRUNO’S UNDERSTANDING OF ELECTROMAGNETISM CHAPTER 16—DELLA PORTA’S INVESTIGATIONS INTO MAGNETISM §1 DELLA PORTA’S NATURAL MAGICK AND ITS BACKGROUND §2 FROM TEXTUAL MAGIC TO EXPERIMENTAL MAGIC §3 NATURAL MAGICK AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE §4 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY OF MAGNETIC FORCE IN NATURAL MAGICK §5 DELLA PORTA’S EXPERIMENTS WITH MAGNETS §6 DELLA PORTA’S THEORETICAL DISCOVERIES §7 MAGIC AND SCIENCE PART 3 THE DAWN OF THE MODERN AGE CHAPTER 17—WILLIAM GILBERT’S ON THE MAGNET §1 GILBERT AND HIS TIMES §2 OVERVIEW OF ON THE MAGNET AND ITS PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE §3 GILBERT AND THE FOUNDING OF ELECTRICAL SCIENCE §4 GILBERT’S EXPLANATION OF ELECTRIC FORCE §5 IRON, MAGNETS, AND THE EARTH §6 CONCERNING “MAGNETICAL MOTIONS” §7 THE TRUE NATURE OF MAGNETIC FORCE AND THE FORM OF THE SPHERE §8 THE MOTIONS OF THE EARTH AND MAGNETIC PHILOSOPHY §9 THE MAGNET EARTH AND ITS SOUL CHAPTER 18—JOHANNES KEPLER AND THE MAGNETICAL PHILOSOPHY §1 KEPLER’S STARTING POINT §2 KEPLER’S REFORMATION OF ASTRONOMY §3 CELESTIAL PHYSICS AND “MOVING SOULS” §4 GILBERT’S THEORY OF GRAVITY §5 GILBERT’S INFLUENCE ON KEPLER §6 KEPLER’S DYNAMICS §7 ASTRONOMICAL BODIES AS MAGNETS §8 KEPLER’S THEORY OF GRAVITY CHAPTER 19—SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MECHANISM AND NOTIONS OF FORCE §1 THE FEATURES OF MECHANISM §2 GALILEO AND GRAVITY §3 CARTESIAN MECHANICS AND GRAVITY §4 CARTESIAN MECHANICS AND MAGNETISM §5 WALTER CHARLETON CHAPTER 20—ROBERT BOYLE AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF MECHANISM IN BRITAIN §1 FRANCIS BACON §2 THOMAS BROWNE §3 HENRY POWER AND “EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY” §4 THE “CORPUSCULAR PHILOSOPHY” OF ROBERT BOYLE §5 MECHANISM AND “MAGNETICAL EFFLUVIA” §6 THE ADMISSION OF SPECIFIC OPERATIONAL CAPACITIES CHAPTER 21—MAGNETISM AND GRAVITY: HOOKE AND NEWTON §1 JOHN WILKINS AND MAGNETICAL PHILOSOPHY §2 ROBERT HOOKE AND MECHANISM §3 HOLE AND GRAVITY: THE BREAK FROM MECHANISM §4 MEASURING GRAVITATIONAL FORCE AND MAGNETIC FORCE §5 HOOKE’S “SYSTEM OF THE WORLD” §6 NEWTON AND HIS MECHANICS §7 NEWTON AND GRAVITATIONAL FORCE §8 MAGIC SANCTIFIED §9 NEWTON AND MAGNETIC FORCE CHAPTER 22—EPILOGUE: ASCERTAINING THE LAWS OF MAGNETIC FORCE §1 MUSSCHENBROEK’S AND HELSHAM’S MEASUREMENTS §2 CALANDRINI’S MEASUREMENTS §3 JOHN MICHELL AND THE INVERSE-SQUARE LAW §4 TOBIAS MAYER AND THE DEMISE OF THE VORTEX THEORY §5 MAYER’S METHOD OF MAGNETIC RESEARCH §6 MAYER’S THEORY: HYPOTHESES AND DEDUCTIVE PROCESS §7 COULOMB’S CONFIRMATION OF THE INVERSE-SQUARE LAW NOTES