Robert Norman

Robert Norman is noted for The Newe Attractive, a pamphlet published in 1581[1] describing the lodestone (magnet) and practical aspects of navigation.

More importantly, it included Norman's measurement of magnetic dip, the incline at an angle from the horizon by a compass needle discovered by Georg Hartmann in 1544.

This effect is caused by the Earth's magnetic field not running parallel to the planet's surface.

Norman demonstrated magnetic dip by creating a compass needle that pivoted on a horizontal axis.

Magnetic inclination and local variations were known before Robert Norman, but his pamphlet had a greater influence than the earlier work[citation needed].