Magnetism

Available for over a year

Why can a small piece of metal have a better sense of direction than most people? Magnets have a myriad everyday uses, from compasses to radios, and yet for millennia we have struggled to understand their strange properties. Shedding light on magnetism on the sub-atomic scale is new research by physicist Stephen Blundell, astrophysicist Katherine Freese explains magnetism on a cosmic scale, and advertising executive Richard Hytner attempts to uncover the secrets of ‘magnetic’ personalities. Photo: A magnet with iron filings (credit: Shan Pillay)