People always needed to be guided somehow during the travel, especially in ancient times. Different aspects of life of society depended on it: trade, production of livelihood, opening of new lands, gains, etc. Successfully to come back home, some reference points which would not depend on weather and an environment were necessary. For these purposes the compass was thought up.
Instruction
1. The idea of creation of a compass belongs to ancient Chinese. In the 3rd century BC one of the Chinese philosophers described a compass of that time as follows. It was the soup ladle from magnetite which had a thin shank and well polished spherical convex part. The spoon the convex part leaned on the same carefully polished surface of a copper or wooden plate, at the same time the shank of a plate did not concern, and freely hung over it. Thus, the spoon could rotate around the convex basis. On the plate parts of the world in the form of zodiac signs were drawn. If specially to push a spoon shank, it began to rotate, at the same time, stopping, the shank always indicated precisely the South.
2. All in the same China in the 11th century thought up a floating arrow of a compass. Did it of an artificial magnet, usually in the form of a small fish. It was placed in a vessel with water where she freely swam, and having stopped, also always pointed by the head to the South. Other forms of a compass in the same century were thought up by the Chinese scientist of Shen Gua. He suggested to magnetize a usual sewing needle about a natural magnet, and then to attach this needle in the center of the case to silk thread by means of wax. So the smaller resistance of the environment at turn of a needle turned out, than in water, and therefore the compass showed more exact direction. One more model offered scientists assumed fastening not to silk thread, and to a hairpin that reminds a modern form of a compass more.
3. Almost by all Chinese ships in XI floating compasses were established. In such look they extended in the world. At first they in the 12th century were adopted by Arabs. Later the magnetic needle became known also in the European countries: at first - in Italy, then - in Portugal, Spain, France, later - in England and Germany. At first the magnetized needle on a piece of a tree or a stopper floated in a vessel with water, later a vessel guessed to close glass, and still later a magnetic needle guessed to place on an edge in the center of a paper circle. Then the compass was improved by Italians, the coil which was divided into 16 (later - 32) the equal sectors indicating parts of the world (at first on 4, and later on 8 sectors for each of the parties) was added to it.
4. Further development of science and technology made possible creation of electromagnetic option of a compass which is more perfect meaning that does not provide deviations because of existence of ferromagnetic details in that vehicle on which it is used. In 1908 the German engineer Mr. Anschütz-Kempf created a prototype of a gyrocompass which advantage was an indication of the direction not to the magnetic North Pole, and on true geographical. For navigation and control of large sea vessels the gyrocompass is almost everywhere used. The modern era of new computer technologies allowed to think up an electronic compass which creation is connected, first of all, with development of a system of satellite navigation.