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A modern military compass, with included sight device for aligning. A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with magnetic north.
At first, compasses were thought to point towards locations in the heavens, then towards magnetic mountains. A modern experimental approach to understanding the Earth's field began with de Magnete, a book published by William Gilbert in 1600. His experiments with a magnetic model of the Earth convinced him that the Earth itself is a large magnet.
A compass, also commonly known as a pair of compasses, is a technical drawing instrument that can be used for inscribing circles or arcs. As dividers, it can also be used as a tool to mark out distances, in particular, on maps. Compasses can be used for mathematics, drafting, navigation and other purposes.
There are a number of different specialized magnetic compasses used by geologists to measure orientation of geological structures, as they map in the field, to analyze and document the geometry of bedding planes, joints, and/or metamorphic foliations and lineations. [1] [2] In this aspect the most common device used to date is the analogue compass.
Thus, the use of a magnetic compass by the military for land navigation occurred sometime before 1044, but incontestable evidence for the use of the compass as a maritime navigational device did not appear until 1117. The typical Chinese navigational compass was in the form of a magnetic needle floating in a bowl of water. [46]
We’re looking at everyday objects with hidden purposes you may have overlooked.
The extent of the Indus Valley Civilisation. This list of inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley Civilisation lists the technological and civilisational achievements of the Indus Valley Civilisation, an ancient civilisation which flourished in the Bronze Age around the general region of the Indus River and Ghaggar-Hakra River in what is today Pakistan and northwestern India.
From clothes pegs and spaghetti servers to toasters and tape measures, there are little details in these designs that may at first seem purely for looks or that aren't widely publicized but that ...