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Hidden Attraction by Gerrit Verschuur (Oxford University Press,
£10.99/$14.95, ISBN 0 19 510655 5) is an absolutely smashing book
about magnetism. It sweeps along as it justifies its proposition that the
results of studying magnetism—fascinatingly described—alone made our
technological civilisation possible. Magnetism, he points out, even protects us
from extinction: read about the consequences of a nonmagnetic Earth. Verschuur,
a radio astronomer, has a fluent, exhilarating style and the book is well
illustrated.