Whats a Lodestone?
The lodestone got its name from the north star, Polaris, which was the seamen’s lodestar, showing them the way. It consists of magnetite, a massive oxide of iron ore. Not every piece of magnetite can become a lodestone; it requires a certain crystalline structure. And something else must occur to give the stone its magnetic personality. This happens when the stone is struck by lightning. The huge electrical discharge, lasting but a split second, has been shown to transform the right types of magnetite into lodestones. Lodestones weren’t practical to use as compasses, but the Chinese had already found they could transfer magnetism to an iron needle and float this in a small container. Europeans kept improving the magnetic compass, but they didn’t know why it pointed north. Most scientists felt it was attracted to the pole star. In 1269, an Italian scholar from Picardy named Peregrinus wrote a paper stating a magnet had two poles, north and south. He noted that similar poles repelled and
