A compass seems like one of the simplest instruments ever invented. A needle points north. You follow it. You arrive where you intended to go. But there is a complication. The needle doesn't actually point towards the geographic North Pole. It responds to Earth's magnetic field—and that field is constantly changing. Across much of the planet, the difference is small enough to ignore. In certain places, however, magnetic anomalies can become surprisingly strong. A compass may deviate from the direction you expect, behave strangely near magnetic rocks, or point significantly away from geographic north. Earth is not simply a giant magnet. It is a complicated magnetic machine. Geographic North Isn't Magnetic North The first thing to understand is that there are two different "norths". Geographic north is the direction towards the Earth's rotational North Pole. Magnetic north refers to the direction indicated by a magnetic compass. The two are separated by hundreds...
Follow the Clues. Challenge the Narrative.