Essay Example on The Compass Making it China's Most Important Invention

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If you were a sailor in 1400 AD and you were lost at sea what would you do Imagine you are on a military expedition and you have lost sight of the river you were following Without a compass you would use landmarks and the stars to navigate your direction The most important technology in ancient China is the compass because it strongly influenced the quality of life for the Chinese people I chose ancient China to talk about because a lot of interesting and useful things originated there things that we still use today The compass is a metal instrument that has a magnetized needle that points north east south or west There is a magnetized iron needle that is aligned with the earth's magnetic pole The north end of the needle is pulled toward the Earth's north magnetic pole and the south end of the needle is pulled towards Earth s south pole The compass was invented by the Han dynasty in China between 300 and 200 BC It was originally made for lining up buildings with directions north south east and west and as a tool for Chinese fortune telling Later it was used as a navigational instrument so people could find their direction The compass is the most important technology because it is a vital tool for navigation it led to the discovery of new lands and it makes travel a lot easier The compass is the most important technology because it is a vital tool for navigation The military still uses the compass to find their way on missions and battles Before the compass people used the sun and stars to determine their direction because the sun rises in the east and sets in the west Sailors used a lodestone to find their direction

The first compass was made of lodestone which contained naturally magnetized iron They hung the lodestone from a string and let it turn and point north Another way to use the lodestone as a compass was to float it on a piece of wood in a bowl of water and it would point towards the north Modern compasses like the gyrocompass are used on ships and aircraft They use a spinning gyroscope to follow Earth's axis of rotation to point to true north The compass also helped traders from China bring their spices to America for example The compass can also help a person hiking in the woods You can just look at a compass rose and it will tell the direction you are heading The compass comes in handy for more than just military and sea travel How would the things you order get to your house if there wasn't a gps The mail carriers can use a compass to deliver the things to you The compass is the most important technology because it led to the discovery of new lands Christopher Columbus used a compass to discover America Medieval Europe and the Islamic world used the compass beginning around 1200 AD to travel to new places and share their culture and meet new people and lands Italian Explorer John Cabot reached North America in 1497 and a compass was a very valuable tool for him too Another reason why the compass is the most important technology is because it makes traveling a lot easier It makes traveling easier because it gives you direction without having to look at a map or any other complicated ways You can rest easy with a compass in hand because you know you will not get lost or stranded Modern compasses are more reliable The sun compass was adopted by the British Army in India in 1938 for tanks in places where the Earth's magnetic field was likely to be distorted

The most important technology is the compass because it changed the quality of life for the Chinese people and still strongly impacts the world today It is an important tool for navigation helped explorers find new land and makes travel way easier The compass was first used for spiritual life but became one of the most important tools for sailors and explorers Imagine being that lost sailor or explorer who cannot see the river anymore With a compass you can find your direction straight away People did not have a gps system so they had to use compasses A compass might mean the difference between life and death for a lost sailor Certain types of animals such as ants fish and birds use the sun as their compass to help them find direction The compass for humans is the same thing as the sun for animals Many of the discoveries made by explorers would not have been found without the compass making it China's most important invention

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