The Earth's Magnetic Field

The Earth's magnetic field has existed for hundreds of millions of years, far longer than life has existed on Earth, and affects our lives in many ways. We can use it to orient buildings and navigate across unmarked territory. Moreover, it protects us from harmful radiation from space. Intended as an introductory guide for non-specialist readers, this book describes the historical importance of the Earth's magnetic field and its role in protecting the planet from harmful high-energy radiation from the Sun. With explanations of underlying physics of processes and references to original scientific works, the reader can explore the Earth's magnetic field and the various ways in which geomagnetics are used and measured, including the analysis of modern satellite-based investigations and the effects of solar activity on the geomagnetic field.

1 - What is magnetism?
2 - How the geomagnetic field is measured
3 - Sources of the Earth's magnetic field
4 - The geomagnetic dynamo
5 - The magnetism of the Earth's Crust
6 - The ancient geomagnetic field
7 - The effects of solar activity on the geomagnetic field
8 - The magnetosphere and ionosphere

William Lowrie earned a B.Sc. at the University of Edinburgh in 1960, an M.A. at the University of Toronto in 1962 and a Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in 1967. He held research positions with Gulf Oil Company and Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory. He has authored 130 scientific articles and five books, including the textbook Fundamentals of Geophysics. He is Fellow of AGU, Member of the Academia Europaea, and in 2022 was awarded the Arthur Holmes Medal of the European Geosciences Union.