A West Virginia University history professor is about to pen a book that is bound to attract readers.

Greg Good, an associate professor of history in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a $144,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to writeMagnetic World.The book will be an account of global research activities that have made modern understanding of the Earths magnetism possible.

The movements of the magnetic compass mystify most people,Dr. Good said.But through creative use of new detection devices, physical theories and mathematical techniques, scientists have gradually built a better understanding of how Earths magnetism is produced.

Goods book will cover the period from around 1800, when advancements in science began to permit researchers to move beyond speculation about geomagnetism, to the late 20th century. By then, satellites, computers and theoretical advances had made possible basic agreement on the causes of Earths magnetism. Scientists now understand events deep in Earths core and far out in near space that play important roles in this most elusive phenomenon.

Good will devote 18 months of full-time research and writing to the project. The grant will enable him to visit archives in the United States and Europe to build the story from the notes and letters of the actual scientists. He will also conduct extensive interviews with scientists now pushing this research further.

He will be a visiting scholar in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, England, in 2005-06. With additional support from the American Institute of Physics, Good will work with auroral researchers at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and elsewhere.

The story of these investigations parallels the discovery of global climate change,he said.Earths magnetism, like its climate, is a complex collection of subtle phenomena. Their explanation has required enormous creativity and indefatigable effort.

This goes beyond global importance; its really about the cosmic environment of the Earth.

The men and women who have unraveled these intricate aspects of our surroundings deserve to have their stories told,Good added.And in this time of global environmental concern, people generally need to understand how we have come to this point in understanding our home planet.

When Good returns to WVU , he will bring this new understanding of 20th-century geoscience back to his history of science classes.

It is important,he said,that students understand how science operates differently now, compared with the time of, say, Galileo or Newton. Not only are scientific theories now more complex, so, too, is the working of the scientific community.

Goods colleagues said his work will have long-term impact on his research field and the students who follow in his footsteps.

Dr. Good is typical of many of the arts and sciences faculty members who link together teaching and research,said Rudolph P. Almasy, interim dean of WVU s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.WVU students are the true winners of this grant.

We are particularly proud of Greg Goods success in securing a major research grant from the National Science Foundationone of the largest, if not the largest, in the history of our department,said Robert Blobaum, chair of WVU s History Department.We look forward to the important scholarly contributions to the field of the history of science that will ensue from Goods funded research in the near future.