True story that reads like science fiction

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Why does the compass needle point north? What causes Earth’s magnetic field?
Book by New Zealand author tells a true story that reads like science fiction.

Without Earth’s magnetic field, life would be impossible: the human race and all other creatures would be wiped out by the violent onslaught of the solar wind and cosmic rays.

But what actually causes magnetism – and makes Earth so magnetic? For centuries the question has absorbed the world’s greatest scientific minds. Albert Einstein described it ‘one of the last great unsolved mysteries of physics’.
Fast forward to 1995, and two American scientists are poised to solve the mystery. Using a powerful new supercomputer, they will attempt to completely simulate Earth’s magnetic field: everything known about it from four hundred years of direct observation and geological records stretching back to the beginning of time.

Their results will stun the scientific community.

This is the climax of Wellington author Gillian Turner’s just-released book North Pole, South Pole (Awa Press, $40). Turner describes how scientists struggled for centuries to understand Earth’s magnetism – from ancient Greeks fascinated with magnetised rocks to modern geophysicists who finally discovered the truth – including the almost unbelievable finding that every million years or so Earth’s magnetic field does a complete flip.

North Pole, South Pole provides an extraordinary window into science, passion and the brilliance of the human mind. For Turner, it is the culmination of a dream. “It’s hard to imagine a more exciting science story,’ she says. ‘Ever since I first became interested in Earth’s magnetic field, I’ve thought it would make a terrific book – and not just for people interested in science. It’s really a story about human curiosity, and people obsessed with cracking a mystery.’

North Pole, South Pole will be launched on June 24 at Victoria University in association with The Royal Society of New Zealand and Vic Books. Gillian Turner will also be the featured speaker at Te Papa’s Science Express on July 1.

Gillian Turner lives in Wellington and teaches at Victoria University. She was born in Wales and educated at Cambridge and Edinburgh universities, gaining a doctorate in geophysics and a passionate interest in Earth’s magnetic field. She has won awards for excellence and innovation in science teaching, and has published over 50 articles on science. She is also a competitive orienteer who has represented New Zealand, and for time out she takes long runs in the mountains.

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