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More than 400 years ago William Gilbert said,'The Earth itself is a great magnet.'Today, we know that it is also a great magnetic tape recorder. This work is a comprehensive, up-to-date textbook on extracting and using rock and paleomagnetic data in archaeological, geological, and geophysical applications. Designed for students and professionals with knowledge of college level physics and some background in earth sciences, it describes both the theory and the practice of paleomagnetism, covering topics such as the basics of magnetism, geomagnetic fields, how rocks become magnetized, and the various ways of analyzing the magnetism of rocks. The book uses the companion PmagPy software package. An appendix contains a brief introduction to Python, an easy-to-use, cross-platform, and most important, free programming environment in which PmagPy programs are written.

Methods in Paleomagnetism covers the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Paleomagnetic Methods, held in the Physics Department of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne on April 1-10, 1964. The book focuses on apparatus and techniques used in paleomagnetism and rock magnetism. The selection first offers information on sampling techniques in the field and measurement of natural remanent magnetization. Discussions focus on ballistic and spinner magnetometers; paleomagnetic sampling with a portable coring drill; portable apparatus for collecting small oriented cores; and portable field-sampling equipment. The book also takes a look at procedures to test the stability of magnetization, as well as physical properties of demagnetization; thermal demagnetization by the continuous method; and apparatus for thermal demagnetization by the progressive method. The text ponders on measurement of isotropic and anisotropic susceptibility and magnetic measurements in applied fields. Topics include preliminary account of a refined technique for magnetic susceptibility anisotropy measurement of rocks; errors in anisotropy measurements with the torsion balance; and measurement of the anisotropy of the susceptibility with an astatic magnetometer. The selection is a valuable reference for readers interested in paleomagnetism.

The Earth's Magnetic Field : Its History, Origin, and Planetary Perspective