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Compass: Difference between revisions
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* The first mention of the '''magnetic attraction of a needle''' is to be found in a Chinese work composed between 20 and 100 AD (''Louen-heng''): "A lodestone attracts a needle."<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.176</ref> In 1948, the scholar Wang Tchen-touo tentatively constructed a 'compass' in the form of south-indicating spoon on the basis of this text. However, it should be noted that "there is no explicit mention of a magnet in the ''Louen-heng''" and that "beforehand it needs to assume some hypotheses to arrive at such a conclusion".<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.180</ref> | * The first mention of the '''magnetic attraction of a needle''' is to be found in a Chinese work composed between 20 and 100 AD (''Louen-heng''): "A lodestone attracts a needle."<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.176</ref> In 1948, the scholar Wang Tchen-touo tentatively constructed a 'compass' in the form of south-indicating spoon on the basis of this text. However, it should be noted that "there is no explicit mention of a magnet in the ''Louen-heng''" and that "beforehand it needs to assume some hypotheses to arrive at such a conclusion".<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.180</ref> | ||
* The earliest reference to a magnetic device as a '''direction finder''' is recorded in a [[Song dynasty]] book dated to 1040-44. Here we find a description of an iron "south-pointing fish" floating in a bowl of water, aligning itself to the south. The device is recommended as a means of orientation "in the obscurity of the night." There is, however, no mention of a use for navigation, nor how the fish was magnetized.<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.181</ref> | * The earliest reference to a magnetic device as a '''direction finder''' is recorded in a [[Song dynasty]] book dated to 1040-44. Here we find a description of an iron "south-pointing fish" floating in a bowl of water, aligning itself to the south. The device is recommended as a means of orientation "in the obscurity of the night." There is, however, no mention of a use for navigation, nor how the fish was magnetized.<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.181</ref> | ||
* The first incontestable reference to a '''magnetized needle''' in Chinese literature appears as late as 1086.<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.182f.</ref> The ''Dream Pool Essay'' written by [[Song Dynasty]] scholar [[Shen Kua]] contained a detailed description of how [[geomancer]]s magnetized a [[Dial (measurement)|needle]] by rubbing its tip with lodestone, and hung the magnetic needle with one single strain of | * The first incontestable reference to a '''magnetized needle''' in Chinese literature appears as late as 1086.<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.182f.</ref> The ''Dream Pool Essay'' written by [[Song Dynasty]] scholar [[Shen Kua]] contained a detailed description of how [[geomancer]]s magnetized a [[Dial (measurement)|needle]] by rubbing its tip with lodestone, and hung the magnetic needle with one single strain of silk with a bit of [[wax]] attached to the center of the needle. Shen Kua pointed out that a needle prepared this way sometimes pointed south, sometimes north. | ||
* The earliest recorded actual use of a '''magnetized needle for navigational purposes''' then is to be found in Zhu Yu's book ''Pingzhou Table Talks'' (Pingzhou Ke Tan) of AD [[1117]]: ''The navigator knows the geography, he watches the stars at night, watches the sun at day; when it is dark and cloudy, he watches the compass.'' | * The earliest recorded actual use of a '''magnetized needle for navigational purposes''' then is to be found in Zhu Yu's book ''Pingzhou Table Talks'' (Pingzhou Ke Tan) of AD [[1117]]: ''The navigator knows the geography, he watches the stars at night, watches the sun at day; when it is dark and cloudy, he watches the compass.'' | ||
*A pilot's compass handbook titled Shun Feng Xiang Song (Fair Winds for Escort) in the Oxford [[Bodleian Library]] contains great details about the use of compass in navigation. | *A pilot's compass handbook titled Shun Feng Xiang Song (Fair Winds for Escort) in the Oxford [[Bodleian Library]] contains great details about the use of compass in navigation. | ||