The Compass
The first compasses were not used as navigating tools. Instead, they were used for geomancy and fortune-telling by the Chinese. I often wondered when the compass was even invented, who invented the compass and what was even the use of it. I discovered that the compass was actually invented in China during the 2nd Century BC and 1st Century AD. This led to more exploration, the discovery of new countries, and trade with other cultures. The compass was one of the Four Great Inventions from Ancient China, and it’s really helpful in a lot of different ways to us humans, such as for travelling and navigation.
It was a wild weekend when I was busy spending my time in my father's boat until I came across a huge compass screwed into the cockpit of the boat. My eyes instantly got stuck to it as if I had never seen one, so that made me wonder when the compass was even invented, who invented the compass and what was even the use of it.
As the curious kid, I am, I quickly went on the browser and searched about the compass. While I was digging deep into the articles, to my surprise, I discovered that the compass was actually invented in China during the 2nd century BC and 1st century AD. I also came to find out that the first compasses were not used as navigating tools. Instead, they were used for geomancy and fortune-telling by the Chinese. But nowadays, the compass is being used to show the relative direction of one of the four cardinal directions. Also, the magnetic compass uses the Earth's magnetic field.
Why is the compass an important invention? The compass was an important advance in navigation because it allowed mariners to determine their direction even if clouds obscured their usual astronomical cues, such as the North Star. Also, the compasses made it possible for explorers to sail far out into oceans and away from land—no matter what the weather was like. This led to more exploration, the discovery of new countries, and trade with other cultures.
The compass was one of the Four Great Inventions from Ancient China, and it’s really helpful in a lot of different ways to us humans, such as for travelling and navigation.
References
http://www.historyofcompass.com/compass-facts/interesting-facts-about-compass/
https://lisbdnet.com/why-is-the-compass-important/
Author Biography
Moosa Haasin Yasir, commonly known as Haasin is a 13 years old. He was born in G.DH Thinadhoo, Maldives. His parents are Aminath Naseema and Mohamed Yasir, and he has one older sibling, Hawra. He was raised in the capital city Male' and later moved back to Thinadhoo. He is currently studying at G.DH atoll Education Centre in the 7th grade. One of his favourite things to do in his free time is learn how to build computers. His favourite food is Mongolian rice. He loves playing soccer, basketball and table tennis with my friends. One of the things that he prefers not doing is reading because it's quite boring. Instead, I would rather watch a movie. In the near future, he will try to start reading more books and also be more organised.
Cite this article as:
Moosa Haasin Yasir, The Compass, theCircle Composition, Volume 2, (2022). https://thecirclecomposition.org/the-compass