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The magnetic compass was first invented as a device for divination as early as the Chinese Han dynasty and Tang dynasty (since about 206 BC). [1] [3] [34] The compass was used in Song dynasty China by the military for navigational orienteering by 1040–44, [22] [35] [36] and was used for maritime navigation by 1111 to 1117. [37]
A Han dynasty (202 BC–220 AD) ladle-and-basin lodestone south-pointing compass, used by ancient Chinese geomancers, but not for navigation. However, it was not until the time of Shen Kuo that the earliest magnetic compasses would be used for navigation .
A lodestone compass was used in China during the Han dynasty between the 2nd century BC and 1st century AD, where it was called the "south-governor" (sīnán 司南). [14] The earliest reference to a magnetic device used for navigation is in a Song dynasty book dated to 1040–1044, where there is a description of an iron "south-pointing fish ...
The Chinese polymath Shen Kuo (1031–1095) of the Song dynasty (960–1279) was the first to accurately describe both magnetic declination (in discerning true north) and the magnetic needle compass in his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, and the Song dynasty writer Zhu Yu (fl. 12th century) was the first to mention use of the compass specifically ...
A reconstruction of an early Chinese compass. A spoon made of lodestone, its handle pointing south, was mounted on a brass plate with astrological symbols. [1]The history of geomagnetism is concerned with the history of the study of Earth's magnetic field.
The compass was then used from the 11th century during the Song dynasty, Yuan dynasty, Ming dynasty, and Qing dynasty in the study of geography. One of the most famous explorers in Chinese history was the 15th century admiral Zheng He , known for the Chinese exploration of the Pacific and his treasure voyages .
4th century: Simple suspension bridge, independently invented in Pre-Columbian South America, and the Hindu Kush range, of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. With Han dynasty travelers noting bridges being constructed from 3 or more vines or 3 ropes. [306] Later bridges constructed utilizing cables of iron chains appeared in Tibet. [307] [308]
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.