Back story: magnetism, then and now

Science News, August 16, 2008

ca. 575 B.C.

Thales of Miletus argues that magnets' power to move things must mean they are alive.

1269

Frenchman Peter Peregrinus writes a major treatise on magnets, assigning poles to a lodestone.

1600

English physician William Gilbert publishes De Magnete, a comprehensive guide to magnetism.

1957

A Chicago team proposes heating magnets (injected into the body) with an external field to kill tumor cells.

2003

MagForce launches the first clinical trials with nanomagnetic particles to treat disease.

Today

Researchers explore the use of nanomagnets to fight infection, deliver drugs and clean up oil spills.

COPYRIGHT 2008 Science Service, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

 

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