Peter Peregrinus Initiates the Scientific Study of Magnets
Overview
The earliest experimental study of magnetism can be found in a letter written by Petrus Peregrinus in 1269. Peregrinus was the first individual to describe the existence of two magnetic poles in each magnet, to describe the attraction between unlike poles, and to explain the creation of new poles when a magnet is broken in two. A designer of instruments, Peregrinus also described improvements in the magnetic compass, which made it far more useful for navigation on the high seas. Roger Bacon, a Franciscan friar teaching at the universities of Oxford and Paris, popularized the experiments of Peregrinus, including studies now lost. The letter about magnets was copied numerous times and widely circulated. Later it would stimulate the researches of William Gilbert, an English physician whose treatise on magnets would initiate the modern study of electricity and magnetism.
Background
The basic phenomena of magnetism were known to the ancient Greeks. The philosopher Thales (624-546 B.C.) was familiar with lodestone, a naturally occurring magnetic rock, and felt it necessary to attribute to it a "soul" because it was able to cause motion. The Greek medical writer Galen (A.D. 130-200) recommended the use of magnets for "expelling gross humors." Probably the first practical use of magnetism outside the medical area was the magnetic compass, which appeared in Europe in the twelfth century.
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