Who invented the compass: a complex answer to a simple question.

We suggest you guess the riddle:

You will not get lost on the road,

Holding the box with the magnetic arrow on the palm of your hand.

It will help not to roll off the route

And lead to the assigned item.

You could easily guess, of course, that this is a compass. This is a great invention, which rightfully belongs to the category of the four greatest inventions of mankind, preserved and used to this day. Compass was the first navigational instrument that helped navigators navigate the high seas.

The essence of the structure of the compass is a magnetic needle mounted on a small rod and capable of freely rotating in all directions. The arrow points to the North magnetic pole of the Earth. In accordance with its location, other objects are placed on the map, which are on the Earth. Due to this, the compass is used in orientation not only on water, but also on land.

The question of where the compass was invented and who invented the compass, has no exact answer. For a long time it was still believed that the discovery, based on an iron magnetized arrow, belongs to China. The similarity of the compass was originally used for orientation when driving through the desert. The primacy of the device and the country in which the compass was invented are disputed by Indians, Italians, Arabs, French. In all arguments and evidence there are inaccuracies, inconsistencies. Unfortunately, judgments have reached to this day, records of this discovery are only in the view of scientists and the assumption of who invented the compass, and not the testimony of seafarers.

In the third century BC , there already existed a description of the first compass, which belongs to the Chinese scientist Hen Fei-tzu. It was like a polished spoon with a handle that was placed on a plate of wood or copper. The direction of light was indicated on the plate. Arranging a spoon from magnetite in such a way that the stem does not touch the plane, it begins to rotate. The side of the light pointed to by the stalk after its independent stop was denoted by the south.

There is a Chinese legend about who invented the compass. During the reign of Bishop Huang-di, a great battle took place, during which the evil spirit, with the help of witchcraft, caused a thick fog. In this situation, the soldiers could not fight: they did not see anything around them, did not understand where the rear, and where the front. The enemy suddenly arose from the fog and dealt a fatal blow. The situation was very deplorable. Only one dignitary named Feng-hou sat on his chariot and thought. He was looking for a way out of the situation. It was necessary to come up with something that would help us to orient ourselves in the world. This man was very wise. Under the rumble of the battle, he made a chariot and mounted on it the figure of a small iron man who always pointed with his outstretched hand to the south, despite the fact where the chariot turns. Feng-hou and is considered by legend to be the inventor of the first compass.

A magnetic device for determining the sides of the world in the daytime is first mentioned in the Chinese book, dated 1044 year. After 44 years, a slightly improved compass was described in his work by the Chinese scientist Shen Co. At present, this version that the first inventors of the compass were precisely the Chinese are questioned. Unquestionably one thing - the Chinese guessed the compass principle among the first. In the XI century, a compass was already present at the stern of all Chinese ships.

Europe got acquainted with the marvelous invention thanks to Arab merchants in the beginning of the XXII century. Already in the XI century, all merchant ships-Arabs had compasses. Then the compass was a bowl of water in which a wooden bar or cork floated with a magnetized arrow inserted into it. (In the Arabian ship, the compass was made in the form of an iron fish, which invariably pointed north when immersed in water.) Following the Arabs, the compass began to be used by the sailors of Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and England. With the help of such a compass, you could find out where the north and south are. At about this time, the compass was supposed to be covered with glass for convenience.

An improved model of the compass was invented by the Italian Flavio Joya in the XIV century. For the convenience of determining the other sides of the world, he proposed to break the compass circle into sixteen parts. He also improved the rotation function by adding a pin under the arrow.

We can not know exactly who invented the compass. Too many doubts about this recently. One thing is clear: a simple and very clever device helped to make a giant leap forward for mankind in its development.