A collection of science/magic activities that explores the science of magnetism--and the tricky things you can do with magnets--like no other book ever has.

Dena loves using magnets to perform magic tricks for the kids at the pool. When Enrique arrives in town, he doesn’t like that Dena is fooling the others. He gives her a century-old treasure map and Dena uses her compass and tools to plot the location of the treasure. To her surprise, the treasure is not where it should be! What could cause her compass to lead her off course? When she discovers the answer, will Dena keep fooling the other kids with magic tricks or will she help them learn about magnetism and the earth’s shifting magnetic poles?

From the latches on our kitchen cabinets to the magnetic strips on our credit cards, we take magnetic forces for granted every day. Magnets are a relatively new technology, although people have remarked on naturally-occurring magnets, or loadstones, for hundreds of years. Mickaharic, in his inimitable, no-nonsense style relates the history and folklore of magnets and how they work, and explains several practical uses including improving fuel combustion, descaling water, and charging water for better plant growth. Most of his book is devoted to explaining how the attractive power of magnets can be harnessed in spells and vibrational healing. Mickaharic includes instructions on spells for attracting a job, a lover, or money/ making devices to magnetize oils and potions for increased potency/ making magnetic magic wands/ using magnets with sigils and seals/ making a Mesmer board for vibrational healing/ constructing a device for distant/covert communication/ working with energy rods/ and aura cleansing with magnets. Mickaharic also includes an interesting biography of the flamboyant Antoine Mesmer that rectifies the misunderstandings around his so-called discovery of "animal magnetism" and initiation of the practice of hypnotism.

From Peter Pan to Harry Potter, from David Copperfield to levitating toys, there is magic in conquering gravity. In this first-ever popular introduction to “maglev”— the use of magnetic forces to overcome gravity and friction—James D. Livingston takes lay readers on a journey of discovery, from basic concepts to today’s most thrilling applications. The tour begins with examples of our historical fascination with levitation, both real and fake. At the next stop, Livingston introduces readers to the components of maglev: gravitational and magnetic forces in the universe, force fields, diamagnetism and stabilization, superdiamagnetism and supercurrents, maglev nanotechnology, and more. He explores the development of the superconductors that are making large-scale levitation devices possible, and the use of magnetic bearings in products ranging from implanted blood pumps to wind turbines, integrated circuit fabrication, and centrifuges to enrich uranium. In the last chapters, we arrive at the science behind maglev transportation systems, such as Chinese trains that travel 250 miles per hour without touching the tracks. Packed with fascinating anecdotes about the colorful personalities who have “fought friction by fighting gravity,” the book maintains accuracy throughout while it entertains and informs technical and nontechnical readers alike. With so many new applications for magnetic levitation on the horizon, Rising Force is sure to retain its own magic for years to come.

Driving Force unfolds the long and colorful history of magnets: how they guided (or misguided) Columbus; mesmerized eighteenth-century Paris but failed to fool Benjamin Franklin; lifted AC power over its rival, DC, despite all the animals, one human among them, executed along the way; led Einstein to the theory of relativity; helped defeat Hitler's U-boats; inspired writers from Plato to Dave Barry. In a way that will delight and instruct even the nonmathematical among us, James Livingston shows us how scientists today are creating magnets and superconductors that can levitate high-speed trains, produce images of our internal organs, steer high-energy particles in giant accelerators, and--last but not least--heat our morning coffee. From the "new" science of materials to everyday technology, Driving Force makes the workings of magnets a matter of practical wonder. The book will inform and entertain technical and nontechnical readers alike and will give them a clearer sense of the force behind so much of the working world.

Early Readers Investigate Magnets.

Learn how to do magic tricks with magnets.