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The History and Legend of Magnets

Magnetism was discovered thousands of years ago, and magnets have been used for many purposes ever since.  However, there is a great deal of mystery and controversy surrounding the discovery of magnetism.  We'll explore some of the various legends about magnets, including how they were discovered and some of their first uses.

Around approximately 2500 B.C.E., a young shepherd boy named Magnes lived near Mount Ida in Greece, a mountain commonly mentioned in Greek mythology.  According to the legend, Magnes used to wear sandals with iron soles.  He often found it difficult to climb up the mountain where he tended his sheep because of the excessive amounts of natural magnetic mineral, or lodestone, that was present in the rock and soil of the mountain.  The Greeks called the material "magnes" in honor of his discovery, and this is how we have come to use the word "magnet" today.

The first historical use of lodestones was the development of the compass around the 8th century AD by the Chinese.  The first recorded use was documented by Zheng He of the Yunnan province.  Between the years 1405 and 1433, Zheng He recorded his voyages across seven oceans.  The compass Zheng used had markings for points of the constellations found by the use of the Sextant, but the center of the compass was a spoon shaped device made from lodestone.  In later centuries, the lodestone was replaced with a metal needle that was magnetized by vigorously rubbing it against a piece of lodestone.  From Zheng He's time forward, no wise sailor would venture out into the ocean without two critical navigational instruments, the compass and the sextant.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle spoke about magnets more than 300 years before the birth of Christ.  He wrote about magnets and their use in pain reduction.  During that time, it is said that doctors used magnets therapeutically to reduce muscle spasms and treat gout.

Cleopatra reportedly wore a piece of magnetic jewelry on her forehead to suppress wrinkles and preserve youth.  It is said that she believed so strongly in the value of magnetic power, that she routinely slept on bed constructed of lodestone to enhance her youthful appearance.  Who knows how well this did or did not work, given that she only lived to the age of 39.

In 1777 A.D., France's Royal Society of Medicine conducted an in depth study about the history of magnets and their use in medical practice.  In spite of some skepticism and ridicule from mainstream medical authorities of that time, the Royal Society concluded that magnets could be used medicinally to cure back and neck pain, headaches, circulation problems, sore throats, and numerous other complaints.

Prior to 1820, the only magnetic substances know to man were lodestone and other metals that had been rubbed against a lodestone to magnetize them.  In 1820, a scientist named Hans Christian Oersted, a professor of Science at Copenhagen University, noted that every time he switched on an electric current near a compass, the direction of the needle moved.  Over the next several months he worked diligently to try to explain and understand the logic of what he had observed.  His studies led to the electromagnet as we know it today.  Though Hans Christian Oersted did not develop the electromagnet, his experiments directly led to this new and important technology and a newfound understanding of physics.

From the earliest recorded knowledge of lodestone and magnetism thousands of years ago, our understanding of magnets has grown exponentially.  Today magnets play a role almost every technologically advanced device we use, including computers, automobiles, and cell phones.  While we do not know what new magnet technologies the future will hold for human kind, we can be certain of one thing.  As our understanding and knowledge of magnets continues to improve, the way we harness and utilize magnetism will continue to expand and develop as well.

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Home Products n' More offers a complete line of magnetic sweeper and industrial magnet products, including rare earth magnets, all with free shipping.

Chinese Netizen : Han Han $8.26 No Synopsis Available

Han $10 Han

A Rare, Old Chinese Flower Print of Lilies $69.99 A Rare, Old Chinese Flower Print of Lilies - Photographic Print

A Rare, Old Chinese Flower Print of an Iris $69.99 A Rare, Old Chinese Flower Print of an Iris - Photographic Print

Readings in Han Chinese Thought $13.5 The first comprehensive English-language collection of the writings of this pivotal period in Chinese intellectual history, this volume provides translations of key works, arranged chronologically within topics, and accompanied by substantive head notes, a glossary, and a bibliography.

The Chinese Deity Han Tchong- Li Rides a Sea Creature Across the Waves $49.99 The Chinese Deity Han Tchong- Li Rides a Sea Creature Across the Waves - Giclee Print

Early Chinese Pottery Lamp, Tomb Artefact, Han Dynasty, 25-220 AD $49.99 Early Chinese Pottery Lamp, Tomb Artefact, Han Dynasty, 25-220 AD - Giclee Print

Early Chinese Pottery Seated Dog, Tomb Artefact, Han Dynasty, 206 Bc-220 Ad $44.99 Chinese School Early Chinese Pottery Seated Dog, Tomb Artefact, Han Dynasty, 206 Bc-220 Ad - Giclee Print

RARE 1.5m long hand made Chinese Belly dance silk fan $14.69 RARE 1.5m long hand made Chinese Belly dance silk fan

Rare chinese scroll painting :Tang-Dynasty travel free shop $48.66 Rare chinese scroll painting :Tang-Dynasty travel free shop

Derek Han Plays Mozart $15.11 It's not clear why pianist Derek Han, American of Chinese descent, gets top billing on this release by London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra when second pianist Wu Han (apparently unrelated) has parts of equal importance in the two full-scale concertos in

Rare and Glorious $15.41 Rare and Glorious draws from the archives of Saregama, Ravi Shankar's longtime Indian record label, to compile a two-CD set of eight ragas with a total running time of 135 minutes; the tracks range across Shankar's career, with the earliest one, "Raga Han

The Chinese Stars - A Rare Sensation * $11.96 Track Listing: Cheap City Halo Electrodes In Captivity Girls Of Las Vegas (Love) and The Electric Chair Dressed To Get Blessed Hospital Fly Panic In The Population Passing Out Nails Getting The Death Card

Rare $22.43 Rare

Chinese Han Music: Zheng Melodies Above the Clouds $8.29 This traditional Chinese musical form, also known as Hakka music, focuses on the sustained, sliding drone of stringed instruments combined with high-pitched reeds. After a time, it is clear that the spaces between sounds are as important as the notes them

Chinese Grave-sculptures of the Han Period $25.79 No Synopsis Available

Wu Han, Historian $48.95 This biography spotlights the life of a key Chinese intellectual, Wu Han, well known in China as a major twentieth-century historian and democratic political figure. World attention was drawn to Wu in the mid-1960s as the first of Mao Zedong's targets inthe Cultural Revolution. The biography locates Wu in the rapid changes in the social and political environment of his times, from the early years of the twentieth century until his death in prison in 1969. With Wu Han's life as the focus, the narrative deals with the momentous changes in Chinese society and government during the last century. Mazur bases the biographical account on extensive interviewing in China, and penetrates a great deal deeper than the conventional conception of the shift from Nationalist to Communist regimes in the PRC. The complex life of Wu Han is of interest to specialist and non-specialist readers alike, both because of the broad relevance of the historical and political issues he and those around him confronted in the contextof the times in China and because of the direct narrative biographical style revealing the conflicts and depth in the human situation. Mazur relates Wu Han's life to the momentous changes and conflicts surging through Chinese society, with special emphasis on the complex role intellectuals have played during the course of change.

Master of the Chinese Dulcimer $11.98 A salvo of yangqin music from Xu Pingxin, one of the early post-Cultural Revolution players of the instrument in China, and now a roving musician based in Canada. Pingxin touches on a series of different styles for this, probably the most modern instrument in the arsenal of Chinese classical music. The album opens up with a basic sort of piece, a pastoral. From here, he moves into the first of two core pieces from the Jiangnan Sizhu repertoire (classic silk and bamboo music, largely from the Shanghai area), and displays intense speed in some of the passages. With the first diversion to the western realms of China, he explores music from the Xinjian region that holds some mysterious parallels with Eastern European dulcimer music as well -- with more cultural autonomy over the ages, the Uighurs (and other ethnic groups) have explored and kept different stylistic elements than have the main Han groups. A couple of pieces from the Cantonese repertoire are presented, with more of a pensive mood to them and a very full sound. Maintaining the whirlwind tour of styles, Pingxin touches down in the Manchurian style for a couple of tunes, with its emphasis on different playing techniques -- tremolos, trembling strokes, etc. These techniques form some of the connective tissue between the relatively modern and foreign yangqin and the older, classical instruments such as the qin, with its heavy use of tension techniques in playing. A stray Sichuan piece emulates the Shanghai style in some ways, and more music from the Xinjian regions provides a rare Chinese example of the Arab maqam idea, with a long and careful exploration of the scale as one might do on the santoor, but with a higher pace and insistence on melody characteristic of Chinese music. After a couple of additional regional pieces, the album closes with a modern piece, based on the opening of a canal during the Cultural Revolution. The composition is a bit more modern, with some stylistic similarities to elements of the jazz and show tunes of the day in some ways, but still indelibly rooted in the classic playing of the yangqin and its multitude of influences. Overall, an excellent album primarily for the vast range of regional styles and influences that Pingxin touches upon. The playing is excellent throughout, and any small slips can be forgiven in favor of the breadth. ~ Adam Greenberg, Rovi Performers: Pingxing Xu - Yangqin; Xu Pingxin - Yangqin

Chinese Essayists : Shen Kuo, Han Han, Su Xuelin, Nie Gannu $10 No Synopsis Available

Unique Rare Huge Outsize Wooden Lead Pencil with Chinese Wors Printed $7.29 Descripton:Unique Rare Huge Outsize Wooden Lead Pencil with Chinese Wors Printed.Made of general wooden material, the main character of Huge Wooden Pencil is very huge, giant, can foucs on all attention.An ideal gift to your kids, friends, family members.The Rare Wooden Pencil is a good decoration for you, use it to decorate for your room.There are ten Chinese words printed in the pencil body, China character.This Outsize Lead Pencil looks greatly very much. There really is a lead. To write the words is same as the general pencil use, the above rubber is also can use, very cute.color: as photo shown.Size: ~(L)33 x (D)3cmWeight: 154gPackage contains:1 x Unique Lead Pencil

Chinese Architecture $20.12 More than 240 rare photographs and drawings highlight this excellent pictorial record and analysis of Chinese architectural history. Based on years of unprecedented field studies by the author, the illustrations depict many of the temples, pagodas, tombs,

A Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman $4 No Synopsis Available

Kumar Sanu RARE - (( Han Woh Shehair ))