Who has not felt intrigued when faced with a magnet attracting a piece of ironiron? For how long has the phenomenon of magnetic attraction been known? The invention of writingwriting, which led to the creation of the cuneiform language around 3000 BC, allowed the preservation of early references to magnets. Texts from MesopotamiaMesopotamia of the second millennium BC mention a “grasping hematitegrasping hematite” or “hematite that seizes.” The first materials known to have this property are minerals like magnetitemagnetite, a naturally occurring iron oxide of formula Fe3O4. The name magnetite comes from the region of MagnesiaMagnesia in Asia Minor, present-day Turkey. The beginning of science is generally associated with the first Greek philosophersphilosophers, or “lovers of wisdom,” active in the sixth century BC. The first name recorded is Thales of MiletusThales of Miletus (c. 640–546 BC), whose works have not been preserved. The great philosopher AristotleAristotle (384–322 BC), who lived some two centuries later, attributed to Thales the remark that the magnet had a soul. The first application of magnetism was the creation of the compass in China. It was used for navigation, possibly in the tenth century AD.