Humble Inventions #4: Magnets
In Nuts and Bolts , Roma Agrawal talks of magnets as yet another invention that has had massive applications and impact. Wait a minute, aren’t magnets a discovery, not an invention? Technically, yes, but most magnets that are used for any applications are artificially created from metals or ceramics, or they are electromagnets, i.e., magnets produced by using electricity. (The reason for producing them is that natural magnets are too rare and too weak). To use magnets required humans to first understand magnetism. As if that wasn’t hard enough, magnetism is intertwined with electricity, another phenomenon which took us a long time to get a grasp of. And boy, magnets are everywhere – thermostats, door catches, speakers, motors, brakes, generators, body scanners… Understanding electromagnetism led to the understanding of electromagnetic waves. This combo of electromagnets and electromagnetic waves is what changed communication forever. From telegraphs to Wi-fi. While...