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Who is the founder of the science of magnetism?

English scientist William Gilbert (1544-1603) is the founder of the science of magnetism. Magnetism is the study of the properties of attraction possessed by magnets. Gilbert looked at the Earth as a giant magnet and investigated its magnetic field in terms of dip and variation. (Dip is the angle at which a compass needle tilts downward, representing the angle between the magnetic field and the horizontal; variation is the angle between true north and the Earth's north magnetic pole.) Gilbert explored many magnetic and electrostatic (electric charges at rest) phenomena. The Gilbert (symbol Gb), a unit of magnetism, is named for him.

John H. Van Vleck (1899-1980), an American physicist (a scientist specializing in the interaction between matter and energy), made significant contributions to modern magnetic theory. He explained the magnetic, electrical, and optical...

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