History of the compass

Song dynasty figurine of a man holding a compass

The compass is a magnetometer used for navigation and orientation that shows direction in regards to the geographic cardinal points. The structure of a compass consists of the compass rose, which displays the four main directions on it: East (E), South (S), West (W) and North (N). The angle increases in the clockwise position. North corresponds to 0°, so east is 90°, south is 180° and west is 270°.

The history of the compass started more than 2000 years ago during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). The first compasses were made of lodestone, a naturally magnetized stone of iron, in Han dynasty China.[1][2] It was called the "South Pointing Fish" and was used for land navigation by the mid-11th century during the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD). Shen Kuo provided the first explicit description of a magnetized needle in 1088 and Zhu Yu mentioned its use in maritime navigation in the text Pingzhou Table Talks, dated 1111–1117.[3][4] Later compasses were made of iron needles, magnetized by striking them with a lodestone. Magnetized needles and compasses were first described in medieval Europe by the English theologian Alexander Neckam (1157–1217 AD). The first literary description of a compass in Western Europe was recorded in around 1190 and in the Islamic world 1232.[5] Dry compasses begin appearing around 1269 in Medieval Europe and 1300 in the Medieval Islamic world.[6][7][8] This was replaced in the early 20th century by the liquid-filled magnetic compass.[9]

  1. ^ Lowrie, William (2007). Fundamentals of Geophysics. London: Cambridge University Press. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-521-67596-3. OL 7751496M. Early in the Han dynasty, between 300 and 200 BC, the Chinese fashioned a rudimentary compass out of lodestone. [...] This compass may have been used in the search for gems and in the selection of sites for houses. [...] Their directive power led to the use of compasses for navigation [...]
  2. ^ Shu-hua, Li (1954). "Origine de la Boussole II. Aimant et Boussole". Isis. 45 (2): 175–177. doi:10.1086/348315. ISSN 0021-1753. S2CID 143585290 – via JSTOR.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference merrill was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Science and Civilisation in China. Volume IV, Physics and Physical Technology. Part 1, Physics. By <italic>Joseph Needham et al.</italic> (New York: Cambridge University Press. 1962. Pp. xxxiv, 434. $15.00.)". The American Historical Review. 1963. doi:10.1086/ahr/68.2.463. ISSN 1937-5239.
  5. ^ Kreutz, Barbara M. (1973). "Mediterranean Contributions to the Medieval Mariner's Compass". Technology and Culture. 14 (3): 370. doi:10.2307/3102323. ISSN 0040-165X. JSTOR 3102323. S2CID 111540460 – via JSTOR.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schmidl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lane, p. 615 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference OEPST was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Kalin, Ibrahim (2014). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam. Oxford University Press. pp. 144–147. doi:10.1093/acref:oiso/9780199812578.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-981257-8.