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Remember William Gilbert? He’s
the British scientist you read about
on page 10.
Well, Gilbert didn’t just study
amber and static electricity. He
was also interested in magnets.
In fact, he wrote a famous book
called
On the Magnet.
Gilbert figured out why magnetic compasses work. It’s
because Earth is a giant magnet! Our planet’s North Pole
attracts one end of a compass’s magnetic needle. And the
South Pole attracts the other end. Earth’s magnetic field
extends way, way out into space.
And guess what! Some animals can feel Earth’s magnetic
field. Yup, it’s true. Some birds, butterflies, fish, turtles, and
whales use magnetism to find their way when they
migrate
from place to place.
A Magnetic
World
