A magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) is an instrument used to detect minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The term refers specifically to magnetometers used by military forces to detect submarines (a mass of ferromagnetic material creates a detectable disturbance in the magnetic field); the military MAD gear is a descendent of geomagnetic survey instruments used to search for minerals by the disturbance of the normal earth-field.
Read more about Magnetic Anomaly Detector: History, Operation, Function, Other Uses
Famous quotes containing the word magnetic:
“We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)