BELIEVE   ME   NOT!    -     A   SKEPTIC's   GUIDE  

Electromagnetism

As suggested in the previous Chapter, Electricity and Magnetism (or ${\cal E}$&${\cal M}$, as they are known in the trade) are "weird" phenomena because the palpable forces they generate on objects seem to come from nowhere - nothing is "touching" the objects and yet they are moved. The related fact that we are unable to wilfully exert significant electrical or magnetic forces directly on objects around us using any combination of muscles or mechanical devices removes ${\cal E}$&${\cal M}$ still further from our personal sensory experience and thus makes them seem "weirder." Even the most seasoned ${\cal E}$&${\cal M}$ veteran still experiences a sense of primitive wonder when a magnet on top of the table moves "by magic" under the influence of another magnet underneath the table.

On the one hand, this makes ${\cal E}$&${\cal M}$ a fun subject to study. On the other hand, it makes ${\cal E}$&${\cal M}$ hard to teach, because it will never make "common sense" like nuts-and-bolts Mechanics. C'est la vie. As our first foray into "Weird Science" it is only fitting that ${\cal E}$&${\cal M}$ should be something we know is there but that we will just have to get used to instead of ever hoping to rectify it with our common sense. It is, of course, "common sense" itself that is defective . . . .