Sharon Ryan, ago 12, of  Tarysville N.  for her question

How did the magnet get its name?

There are two opinion as to how the magnet got its name. One opinion Maims that it was named for the city of Magnesia of Thessaly in northern Greece, where many natural. magnets are found in the ground. The other opinion is far more glamorous than this one. It was set forth by the Roman writer Tiny some 2,000 years ago.

Pliny claims that the magnet was named for Magnes a shepherd who tended his flocks on the slopes of Mount Ida,  Magnes carried a crook with an iron tip and buckled his sandals with iron clasps. And magnets, as we knows whether natural or man made, cling to iron. Magnes noticed that certain bits of dull black stone often clung to his sandals and his crook. These stones of magnet could do other magic tricks and they were soon getting a lot of attention. People called them Magnes' stones which later became shortened into magnet:.

We cannot prove which origin of the word magnet is correct. But Andy favors the one about the curious shepherd.