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[[Image:Compass in a wooden frame.jpg|thumb|Compass in a wooden box]] | [[Image:Compass in a wooden frame.jpg|thumb|Compass in a wooden box]] | ||
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== History of the navigational compass == | == History of the navigational compass == | ||
=== Pre-history === | === Pre-history === | ||
Prior to the introduction of the compass, direction at sea was primarily determined by the position of celestial bodies. Navigation was supplemented in some places by the use of [[Sounding line|soundings]]. Difficulties arose where the sea was too deep for soundings and conditions were continually overcast or foggy. Thus the compass was not of the same utility everywhere. For example, the Arabs could generally rely on clear skies in navigating the [[Persian Gulf]] and the [[Indian Ocean]] (as well as the predictable nature of the | Prior to the introduction of the compass, direction at sea was primarily determined by the position of celestial bodies. Navigation was supplemented in some places by the use of [[Sounding line|soundings]]. Difficulties arose where the sea was too deep for soundings and conditions were continually overcast or foggy. Thus the compass was not of the same utility everywhere. For example, the Arabs could generally rely on clear skies in navigating the [[Persian Gulf]] and the [[Indian Ocean]] (as well as the predictable nature of the monsoons). This may explain in part their relatively late adoption of the compass. Mariners in the relatively shallow [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] made extensive use of soundings. | ||
=== Developments in China === | === Developments in China === | ||
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* The earliest Chinese literary reference to '''magnetism''' lies in a [[4th century BC]] book called ''Book of the Devil Valley Master'' (鬼谷子): "The [[lodestone]] makes iron come or it attracts it."<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.175</ref> | * The earliest Chinese literary reference to '''magnetism''' lies in a [[4th century BC]] book called ''Book of the Devil Valley Master'' (鬼谷子): "The [[lodestone]] makes iron come or it attracts it."<ref>Li Shu-hua, “Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole,” ''Isis'', Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.175</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 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 | * 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 | * 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. | ||
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[[br:Nadoz-vor]] | [[br:Nadoz-vor]] | ||
[[bg:Компас]] | [[bg:Компас]] | ||
bs:Kompas | |||
ca:Brúixola | ca:Brúixola | ||
[[el:Πυξίδα]] | [[el:Πυξίδα]] | ||
[[fa:قطبنما]] | [[fa:قطبنما]] | ||
[[gl:Compás]] | [[gl:Compás]] | ||
ko:나침반 | |||
id:Kompas | id:Kompas | ||
[[he:מצפן]] | [[he:מצפן]] | ||
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[[yi:קאמפאס]] | [[yi:קאמפאס]] | ||
[[zh:指南针]] | [[zh:指南针]] | ||
[[Category:Hiking equipment]] | [[Category:Hiking equipment]] | ||
[[Category:Orientation]] | [[Category:Orientation]] | ||
[[ar:بوصلة]] | |||
[[da:Kompas]] | |||
[[de:Kompass]] | [[de:Kompass]] | ||
[[es:Brújula]] | |||
[[fi:Kompassi]] | [[fi:Kompassi]] | ||
[[fr:Boussole]] | [[fr:Boussole]] | ||
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[[nl:Kompas]] | [[nl:Kompas]] | ||
[[pt:Bússola]] | [[pt:Bússola]] | ||
[[scout-o-wiki:Kompass]] | |||
[[sv:Kompass]] | [[sv:Kompass]] | ||