1. A Brief History
The history of magnets is shrouded in mystery and legend.
Ancient History
The most popular account for the discovery of magnets is a
legend of a shepherd named Magnes who lived in Magnesia near
Mount Ida in Greece Mount Ida was referred to as the "Mountain
of the Goddess". Approximately 2,600 years ago (600 BC) while
herding sheep on the mountain, Magnes found that the nails and
buckle of his sandals and the tip of his staff were attracted to the
rock he was standing on. He dug up the Earth to find lodestones.
Lodestones contain magnetite, a natural magnetic material
Fe3O4.
The word magnet is derived from the Greek name magnetis
lithos, the stone of Magnesia, referring to the region on the
Aegean coast in present-day Turkey where these magnetic stones
were found.
Middle Ages History
The Chinese provide the first documented use of suspended
lodestones used as a compass. In 1088 Shen Kuo described the
magnetic needle compass, which could be used for navigation in
his Dream Pool Essays. The first recorded use was documented
by Zheng He of the Yunnan province. Between the years 1405
and 1433, Zheng He recorded his voyages across seven oceans.
In approximately 1180, Englishman Alexander Neckam records
the earliest European understanding of the magnet as a guide to
seamen, the early compass. The term lodestone comes from the

2. Anglo-Saxon meaning "leading stone," or literally, "the stone that
leads." The Icelandic word is leider-stein, and was used in
writings of that period in reference to the navigation of ships.
Modern History
In 1600, English scientist William Gilbert confirmed earlier
observations regarding magnetic poles and concluded that the
Earth was a magnet. In 1820, the Dutch scientist Hans Christian
Oersted discovered the relationship between electricity and
magnetism, and French physicist Andre Ampere further expanded
upon this discovery in 1821.
In the early 1900s, scientists began studying magnetic materials
other than those based on iron and steel. By the 1930s,
researchers had produced the first powerful Alnico alloy
permanent magnets.
In 1966 the first rare earth magnets were developed from
Samarium-Cobalt (SmCo5) producing a high energy product of 18
MGOe. In 1972 further developments were made using
Samarium-Cobalt (Sm2Co17) to produce a higher energy magnet
product of 30 MGOe.
In 1983 General Motors, Sumitomo Special Metals and the
Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a high energy product of
35 MGOe from a compound of Neodymium-Iron-Boron
(Nd2Fe14B) referred to as neo magnets or rare earth magnets.
The enormous interest these magnets have generated arises
because, for the first time, a new magnetic material has been
introduced which is not only stronger than the previous
generation but is more efficient. Neo magnets are the strongest
type of permanent magnet in the world.

3. Today magnets play a role almost every technologically advanced
device we use, including computers, automobiles, industrial sorter
and seperators, power generators, speakers, cell phones etc.