THE WORLD’S FIRST COMPASS (1963 Y.)

Music by Ilia Gvadzabia Video by Teona Gvadzabia #თეონა21 #Teona21 facebook.com/Teona21 E-mail: [email protected] THE WORLD’S FIRST COMPASS Source: Э.Я.БАГ; Н.А.НЕЧАЕВА; Э.С.ЯРАЛОВА; 1963 Y. It was in the compass that magnetism first found a practical use. Many centuries ago the people of ancient China noticed the attracting properties of loadstones, that is, magnetic oxides of iron. (A loadstone is a name given to the natural magnet, that is, to a kind of magnetic iron ore). The property they had noticed helped them to discover that a freely suspended magnetized bar points North and South, and so it can be used to determine direction. Thus the compass was invented. In ancient books we find a description of the compass of those days. It was shaped like a spoon mounted on a graduated plate. We know the spoon had to be rotated by hand and when it came to rest, it was pointing North and South. About the end of the eleventh century the Chinese began to use the compass in navigation. As early as the eleventh century they had discovered how to make magnetic needles. This was the first time such a thing had been done anywhere in the world. These iron, fish-shaped needles which floated on water, were acted on by the earth's magnetic field. In the twelfth century the compass of the floating needle type came into use. Its iron-needle was fastened to a thin strip of cork or wood, so that it floated in a bowl of water. The needle was magnetized by contact with a natural magnet taken from the earth. This early seagoing compass was in use on Chinese ships up to the seventeenth century. It was probably the best type available if we consider the scientific arid technical level of the time. In Middle Ages there was a lively trade and a busy cultural exchange between China and the Arab countries. It was from the Chinese that the Arabs first learnt to make compasses and to use them in navigation. The Arabs in their turn introduced the compass to Europe, where it began to appear over eight hundred years ago. We know it was used on Italian, Portuguese and Norwegian ships of the twelfth century. The great invention of the ancient Chinese was further developed thanks to the skilled Arab and European scientists and thus reached its present perfection.