THE STUDY OF EARTH'S MAGNETISM (1269-1950): A FOUNDATION BY PEREGRINUS AND SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT OF GEOMAGNETISM AND PALEOMAGNETISM

Vincent Courtillot (1) , Jean-Louis Le Mouël (1)

1 IPGP - Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris

This paper summarizes the histories of geomagnetism and paleomagnetism (1269–1950). The role of Peregrinus is emphasized. In the sixteenth century a debate on local versus global departures of the field from that of an axial dipole pitted Gilbert against Le Nautonier. Regular measurements were undertaken in the seventeenth century. At the turn of the nineteenth century, de Lamanon, de Rossel, and von Humboldt discovered the decrease of intensity as one approaches the equator. Around 1850, three figures of rock magnetism were Fournet (remanent and induced magnetizations), Delesse (remagnetization in a direction opposite to the original), and Melloni (direction of lava magnetization acquired at time of cooling). Around 1900, Brunhes discovered magnetic reversals. In the 1920s, Chevallier produced the first magnetostratigraphy and hypothesized that poles had undergone enormous displacements. Matuyama showed that the Earth's field had reversed before the Pleistocene. Our review ends in the 1940s, when exponential development of geomagnetism and paleomagnetism starts.

Domains: Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; History, Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences

Vincent Courtillot, Jean-Louis Le Mouël. THE STUDY OF EARTH'S MAGNETISM (1269-1950): A FOUNDATION BY PEREGRINUS AND SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT OF GEOMAGNETISM AND PALEOMAGNETISM. Reviews of Geophysics, 2007, 45 (3), pp.RG3008. ⟨10.1029/2006RG000198⟩. ⟨insu-02448801⟩