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The History of the Compass: Who Invented It and How Did It Evolve?

There is a simple yet eternal tool that has led explorers, mariners, and adventurers across ages of undiscovered territory in a world where technology rules supreme. A wonderful wonder of simplicity and dependability is the compass.

This modest device transcends time, a magnetic needle gently swaying to the beat of our planet’s hidden powers like an ancient navigator revealing secrets of the magnetic forces. The compass has been the unfailing ally of anyone bold enough to explore uncharted territory, whether it is the rough terrain of uncharted regions or the huge waters that reach beyond the horizon.

Join me as we set off on a voyage of exploration as we explore the fascinating past and ongoing fascination of the compass.

Inventor of the Compass

Chinese compass-CnAM 7460-IMG 6450-white.jpg , , via Wikimedia Commons

The invention of the compass is attributed to the ancient Chinese. The Han dynasty, which lasted from 202 BC to 220 AD, is where the compass’s history began more than 2000 years ago. In Han Dynasty China, lodestone, an iron stone that is inherently magnetic, was used to create the first compasses.

By the middle of the eleventh century, during the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD), it was known as the “South Pointing Fish” and was employed for land navigation. A magnetic needle was first explicitly described by Shen Kuo in 1088, and Zhu Yu discussed its application in marine navigation in the 1111–1117 work Pingzhou Table Talks.

How The Compass Evolved

Although the Chinese are credited with inventing the compass, other cultures, such as the ancient Greeks and the Arabs, independently created comparable magnetic devices and navigational aids.

These early compass designs laid the path for their widespread use and improvement throughout many locations, influencing the direction of human exploration and discovery. Following is how the compass became modified into the magnificent object that can tell directions if properly used today.

1. Second Century BC and First Century AD: Invention of the Compass in China

The “south-governor” or “South Pointing Fish” was the name given to the compass when it was created in China during the Han dynasty between the second century BC and the first century AD. The Chinese first utilized the magnetic compass for geomancy and fortune-telling rather than for navigation.

The geomantic concepts of feng shui may have been employed to organize and harmonize structures with the early Chinese magnetic compasses. Lodestone, a kind of mineral magnetite that is a naturally occurring magnet that aligns itself with the Earth’s magnetic field, was used to make these early compasses.

A lodestone would always point toward the magnetic poles if it were hanging so it could rotate freely, as was found in ancient China. Early compasses were used to select locations suited for constructing homes, cultivating crops, and looking for valuable jewels. Later, in the 11th century, under the Song dynasty, compasses were modified for use in navigation.

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2. 12th to 13 century: Introduction of the compass to medieval Europe

Epistola-de-magnete.jpg , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Given that Alexander Neckam’s De naturis rerum (On the Natures of Things), which was published in 1190, describes a magnetic needle and its usage by sailors, the earliest known use of the compass in Europe (1190) predates that of the Muslim world (1232).

In the works De utensilibus and De naturis rerum, written between 1187 and 1202 after he returned to England from France and before entering the Augustinian convent at Cirencester, Alexander Neckam documented the usage of a magnetic compass for the area of the English Channel.

In his well-known Epistola de Magnete from 1269, Petrus Peregrinus of Maricourt described a dry compass for use at sea as well as a floating compass for astronomical reasons.

The introduction of the compass, which was initially only known as a magnetized pointer floating in a bowl of water, along with advancements in dead reckoning techniques and the creation of Portolan charts, allowed for more winter navigation in the Mediterranean during the second half of the 13th century.

3. 13 century: Introduction of the compass to the Islamic World 

A compass is employed for navigation during a journey in the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf in the Persian storybook Jawami ul-Hikayat, which dates back to 1232 and is the first mention of one in the Muslim world. The design of this fish was typical of early Chinese architecture.

The iron leaf portrayed in the form of a fish suggests that this early Chinese design has travelled outside of China. The first Arabic mention of a compass, which appears as a magnetic needle submerged in water, is found in a book by Baylak al-Qibjq that was written in Cairo in 1282.

4. 14th century: The addition of a compass card with directional markings around the needle allows for more precise readings

A crucial breakthrough in the compass’s evolution occurred in the 14th century with the addition of a compass card. This card contains directional markings around the magnetic needle to assist navigators in obtaining more precise readings of the Earth’s magnetic field. This advancement revolutionized navigation, allowing sailors and explorers to plot their routes with greater accuracy and paving the way for additional maritime exploration and discoveries.

6. 18th century: Development of the Dry Mariner’s Compass

Chinese Mariner’s Compass c. 1760 (NAV0240), National Maritime Museum.JPG , , via Wikimedia Commons

The wind rose or compass card is attached to a magnetized needle in such a way that when placed on a pivot in a box fastened in line with the keel of the ship, the card would turn as the ship changed direction, indicating always what course the ship was on.

The dry mariner’s compass is made up of these three components: a freely pivoting needle on a pin enclosed in a small box with a glass cover; and a wind rose. Later, to prevent grounding of the needle or card when used on a ship’s pitching and rolling deck, compasses were frequently placed with gimbal mountings.

The fact that a commentary on Dante’s Divine Comedy from 1380 describes a compass with a needle linked to a revolving card and that an older source (from 1318) mentions a portable compass in a box supports the idea that the dry compass was already well-known in Europe by that time.

7. 18th century: Bearing compass

Kompas Sofia.JPG , , via Wikimedia Commons

In order to make the bearing compass more portable, its size and weight were gradually decreased. This led to a type that could be held and used with one hand. The prismatic compass was invented in 1885 when a patent was awarded for a hand compass equipped with a viewing prism and lens that allowed the user to precisely sight the heading of geographic features.

Orienteering enthusiast and jobless Swedish instrument manufacturer Gunnar Tillander created a brand-new method of bearing the compass in 1928. His plan included a glass protractor baseplate with a lubber line and a metal compass capsule with a magnetic needle and orienting markers.

The course bearing may be read at the lubber line by rotating the capsule to place the needle in line with the orienting markers. The compass might also serve as a protractor by lining up the baseplate with a course shown on a map and disregarding the needle. When Björn, Alvin, and Alvar Kjellström, three other orienteers who were also selling simple compasses, saw Tillander’s invention, they changed it.

The Silva Company, founded in December 1932 by Tillander and the three Kjellström brothers, started producing and distributing the Silva orienteering compass to Swedish orienteers, outdoor enthusiasts, and army officials.

8. 19th century: Gyrocompass Invention 

In 1885, Marinus Gerardus van den Bos received a patent for the first iteration of the gyrocompass, which was not yet functional. Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe created a practical gyrocompass in Germany in 1906, and following a series of successful testing, it was extensively adopted by the German Imperial Navy in 1908.

Anschütz-Kaempfe established Anschütz & Co. in Kiel to manufacture gyrocompasses in large quantities; the business is now known as Raytheon Anschütz GmbH. Because it permitted precise location determination independent of a vessel’s motion, the weather, or the quantity of steel used in the ship’s construction, the gyrocompass was a crucial advancement in maritime navigation.

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9. 20th century: Electronic and Digital Compasses

Jean Batten’s compass – 1974.103.10.jpg , , via Wikimedia Commons

With the advent of electronic and digital compasses, navigational equipment underwent a dramatic transition in the 20th century. These state-of-the-art devices abandoned the conventional magnetic needle in favour of more practical and accurate navigation by utilizing electronics and microprocessors.

Digital compasses provided precise headings with easy-to-read numerical readouts, while electronic ones improved accuracy with additional functions like tilt compensation and declination adjustments. These compasses, which are portable and dependable, have found use in a variety of contexts, from outdoor activities to military operations.

These technological wonders, which embrace the digital era, continue to provide unmatched accuracy and simplicity of use for modern explorers, sailors, and outdoor lovers.

Finally, the compass serves as an enduring representation of human inquiry and tenacity. This modest device has led us across unexplored waters and new areas, enabling explorers and adventurers to uncover the world’s undiscovered treasures, from its ancient Chinese roots to the invention of electrical marvels. The appeal of the compass will always lead us toward new vistas as loyal travel companions on the path of exploration.

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