Johann von Lamont: A pioneer in geomagnetism

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wunde am 28.August 1749 als Sohn einer wohlhabenden Patrizierfamilie geboren. Im Alter von 16 Jahren nahm Goethe ein Jurastudium in Leipzig auf, neben der Juristerei hörte er auch Vorlesungen über Poesie und lernte Radieren und Kupferstechen bei Adam Friedrich Oeser. Nach einer schweren Krise nahm er sein abgebrochenes Studium in Straßburg wieder auf. Neben dem Jurast...

Johann Baptist von Schweitzer: the queer Marx loved to hate.

Despite his conviction on a morals charge involving a boy, the early German Social Democrat Johann Baptist von Schweitzer went on to have a successful political career. His life furnishes the context to present remarks by his political opponents Marx and Engels, which reveal their deep-seated homophobia. It is pointed out that this has been glossed over by the translations of the recently publi...

Geomagnetism: Theories of since 1900

A definitive history of geomagnetism is yet to be written, but brief accounts have appeared in various publications. The story up to 1940 has been summarized (Chapman and Bartels, pp. 898-936). Perhaps the most complete account is by David R. Barraclough (pp. 584-592). Brief accounts have also been given by Stuart Malin (in Jacobs, ed., Geomagnetism, 1: 1-50), and others (Multhauf and Good, pp....

Lamont geological observatory.

Grand challenges in geomagnetism and paleomagnetism

Geomagnetism and paleomagnetism is a broad sub-discipline of the Earth Sciences. I present the Grand Challenges from the perspective of a paleomagnetist and rock magnetist, hence I feel more comfortable with the paleomagnetic side of this short article than the geomagnetic side. Nevertheless, exciting things are happening in geomagnetism and the future is bright for both paleomagnetists and geo...