Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

For over two thousand years magnets have inspired tales of myth, magic, exploration, science, and art. From the physical to the metaphorical, our language is littered with magnetic allusions: magnetic personalities, animal magnetism, Mesmerism, and magnetic attraction. In Magnet, Eva Barbarossa weaves together stories of ancient and modern wonders, of discovery and creation, of madness and desire, of beauty and awe, taking us from the spectacle of the aurora borealis to the disastrous searches for the North Pole.

With wit and scientific aplomb, Barbarossa explores how magnets are fundamental to the way we think, how we get home, and how we talk about fascination and love. We take them for granted yet magnets are essential to our existence--as important as gravity--and to our survival on this planet and in this universe.

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in the The Atlantic.