Customer Reviews

Hidden Attraction: The History and Mystery of Magnetism (Oxford Paperbacks)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hidden Attraction is a fascinating account of the study of the quite baffling phenomenon of magnetism across approximately five centuries. Verschuur constructs a smooth transition from one discoverer/pioneer to the next, allowing the reader to follow in the footsteps of the various figures discussed.

This is no boring catalog of scientists listing piecemeal contributions to the field; I personally found the book to be a page-turner. Hidden Attraction does not leave you feeling as if you could recite the names of historical figures--rather it gives you the sensation of having looked over their shoulders as they made their discoveries. Some of the scientists discussed, just to name a few, are Volta, Faraday, Hertz and Ampere.

Verschuur gives enough depth of the subject matter to keep the interest of the scientifically-minded, unlike other books on the history of science which spread the accounts of real achievements sparingly over a wasteland of historical details and background. At the same time, Verschuur includes enough background and biographical info to give the reader a sense of who each figure was both as a scientist and as a person.

Those without a strong foundation in physics may get lost in the last chapter or two--I am one of those. This, however, did not detract from the overall readability of the book.

Hidden Attraction is well worth reading for anyone who is interested in the history of science and who is excited by great scientific achievements.

This is a most interesting read about lodestones and magnetism as told through an all inclusive historical record encompassing the evolvement of our understanding of what magnetism is. Gerrit L. Herschuur takes the reader on a dramatic discovery of everything there is or ever was to know about magnetism, from it's being a mystical lodestone with superstition as a basis of understanding, to the degree of sophisticated knowledge we have today. He has a natural talent for keeping the reader as intrigued as if he/she were holding a best selling mystery novel! The best part is, this is a non-fictional true life natural mystery and you won't be able to put this book down until you've finished it. Herschuur reveals every mystery contained within and about magnetism, all the stuff you ever wanted to know about it, but didn't know who to ask!

Nothing new, no insights, just a book some average college professor has to write to say he "published". I hope this guy isn't tenured at UT - because the students are going to get a big dose of Darwinism/Atheism and no physics info - just bios and his opinion.

I PURCHASED THE BOOK HOPING THAT IT WOULD HELP ME TO FIND OUT THE REAL STORY OF ELECTROMAGNETISM AND AN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION: "HOW DOES THE UNIVERSE WORK?".
AND IT HAS REALLY DONE!

For those interested in the history of magnetism, this is a good book to read. However, be forewarned that it disparages the ideas of animal magnetism and magnet therapy, so those hoping to learn more about those subjects will have to look elsewhere. Also, if you want to learn about permananet magnet motors, this is not the book for you. However, I found this a very useful book to use when explaining these latter topics, as it provides a readily available reference to use in explaining what science overlooked.

This book covers in a bit more detail the history and people involved with the discovery of magnetism and subsequent magnetic phenomena. Unfortunately it is also somewhat repetitive with topics being brought up again and again for pages at a time. It also veers off topic into cosmology, metaphysics and science policy. An editor with a strong hand would have improved this book considerably. I suggest skipping this book unless you can pick it up used for half price.