2016 CAP Congress / Congrès de l'ACP 2016

Documenting the Magnetic Crusade in Canada and Beyond

15 Jun 2016, 08:30

30m

SITE C0136 (University of Ottawa)

Invited Speaker / Conférencier invité History of Physics / Histoire de la physique (DHP) W1-7 History of Physics (DHP) / Histoire de la physique (DHP)

Speaker

David Pantalony (Canada Science and Technology Museum)

Description

Canada has a long history related to the history of the study and measurement of geomagnetism. In 1840, the observatory at Toronto was part of a world-wide network for magnetic measurements; in the 19th century, explorers and scientists were active in collecting magnetic data in field surveys throughout our territories; in the 20th century, Canadian scientists did pioneering oceanographic and airborne studies; and today Canadian physicists are part of the SWARM project from space. In this paper, I describe this history, in particular some of the key instruments used by scientists in these diverse studies. The Canada Science and Technology Museum is presently documenting and collecting instruments and records from this history. In addition, we are combining our findings with British colleagues to create a larger, global picture of the magnetic crusade.