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The spinning magnet : the force that created the modern world and could destroy it / by Mitchell, Alanna,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The magnetic North Pole will eventually trade places with the South Pole. Satellite evidence suggests to some scientists that the move has already begun, but most still think it won't happen for many decades. All agree that it has happened many times before and will happen again. But this time it will be different. It will be a very bad day for modern civilization. Award-winning science journalist Alanna Mitchell tells in The Spinning Magnet the fascinating history of one of the four fundamental physical forces in the universe, electro-magnetism. From investigations into magnetism in 13th century feudal France and the realization six hundred years later in the Victorian era that electricity and magnetism were essentially the same, to the discovery that the earth was itself a magnet, spinning in space with two poles and that those poles aperiodically reverse, this is an utterly engrossing narrative history of ideas and science that readers of Stephen Greenblatt and Sam Kean will love. But the recent finding that the Earth's magnetic force field is decaying ten times faster than previously thought, portending an imminent pole reversal, ultimately gives this story a spine tingling urgency. When the poles switch, a process that takes many years, the Earth is unprotected from solar radiation storms that would, among other things, wipe out all electromagnetic technology. No satellites, no internet, no smart phones--maybe no power grid at all. Such potentially cataclysmic solar storms are not unusual. The last one occurred in 2012 and we avoided returning to the dark ages only because the part of the sun that erupted happened to be facing away from the Earth. One leading US researcher is already drawing maps of the parts of the planet that would likely become uninhabitable."--
Subjects: Geomagnetism.; Magnetic pole.; Electromagnetism.; Civilization, Modern;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Madhouse at the end of the Earth / by Sancton, Julian,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The harrowing true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry--with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless Antarctic winter--in the tradition of David Grann, Nathaniel Philbrick, and Hampton Sides. In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache's plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. De Gerlache sailed on, and soon the Belgica was stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea. When the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, the ship's occupants were condemned to months of endless night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness and besieged by monotony, they descended into madness. In this epic tale, Julian Sancton unfolds a story of adventure and horror for the ages. As the Belgica's men teetered on the brink, de Gerlache relied increasingly on two young officers whose friendship had blossomed in captivity: the expedition's lone American, Dr. Frederick Cook--half genius, half con man--whose later infamy would overshadow his brilliance on the Belgica; and the ship's first mate, soon-to-be legendary Roald Amundsen, even in his youth the storybook picture of a sailor. Together, they would plan a last-ditch, nearly certain-to-fail escape from the ice--one that would either etch their names in history or doom them to a terrible fate at the ocean's bottom. Drawing on the diaries and journals of the Belgica's crew and with exclusive access to the ship's logbook, Sancton brings novelistic flair to a story of human extremes, one so remarkable that even today NASA studies it for research on isolation for future missions to Mars. Equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror, Madhouse at the End of the Earth is an unforgettable journey into the deep"--
Subjects: Gerlache de Gomery, A. de (Adrien), commandant, 1866-1934.; Cook, Frederick Albert, 1865-1940.; Amundsen, Roald, 1872-1928.; Belgica (Ship);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Gilligan's Island. [videorecording] / by Schwartz, Sherwood,creator,film producer.; Denver, Bob,actor.; Hale, Alan,1918-1990,actor.; Backus, Jim,actor.; Schafer, Natalie,1900-1991,actor.; Tina Louise,1934-actor.; Johnson, Russell,actor.; Wells, Dawn,1938-actor.; Gladysya Productions,production company.; United Artists Corporation,production company.; Warner Home Video (Firm),distributor.;
Bob Denver Alan Hale, Jim Backus, Natalie Schaffer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, Dawn Wells.The complete third and final season featuring all the episodes in color and the continued adventures of the castaways as they struggle to survive disasters.Canadian Home Video Rating: G.DVD ; full screen presentation ; Dolby digital mono.
Subjects: Television comedies.; Television programs.; Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Shipwreck victims; Shipwreck survival; Ship captains; Islands;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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