From: David Gavenda <gavenda@physics.utexas.edu>
Subject: Magnet terminology

I had to clear up the confusing issue of the Earth's North
Pole, so I did some checking of the literature.  Apparently, the end of a
bar magnet labeled "N" was intended to refer to the "North-seeking" pole,
because that end turns toward the "North Geomagnetic Pole".  Later, the
"seeking" was dropped, and it became the "North" pole, in spite of the
fact
that it has the opposite property from the North Geomagnetic Pole.  Thus,
the North Geomagnetic Pole is a "South-seeking", or, in the now-standard,
confusing terminology, it is a "South" pole.

More modern introductory textbooks avoid all of this confusion by defining
both the direction and strength of a magnetic field from the Lorentz force
law; they tend to ignore the concept of north and south poles completely.