First of all, what is a compass? And how did this simple instrument help improve people’s lives dramatically? A compass is a device that indicates direction. It is one of the most important instruments for navigating. It was first invented in Ancient china around 247 B.C. A compass works by detecting the Earth’s natural magnetic fields. During the Warring States period, a device called the” Si Nan” became the forerunner of the compass. The Si Nan was a magnet on a plate with the handle of the ladle pointing to the south. In the 11th century, tiny needles made of magnetized steel were invented. One end of the needle points north while the other points south. The compass was then created. The compass greatly improved everyone’s lives, like for example the ships could go further distance and be able …show more content…
The compass has a huge impact on the world. It makes camping easier, and people won’t get lost so easily. For example, the compass allows ships to travel away from shore and find their way back. Until it was invented, most ocean travel was within sight of land. The first magnetic compass appeared in Italy around the 14th century. The compass was used in the song Dynasty (In ancient china) by the military. It was important because when china was in war, they needed to know where they were going when they were traveling. They needed to know if they were going north, south, east, or west. How does a compass function? A magnet always points north because it has two poles: The south and the north pole.The Earth is a literally a magnet, and it can interact with other magnets in this way, so the north end of a compass magnet attracts to the Earth's magnetic field. Because the Earth's magnetic North Pole attracts the "north" ends of other magnets, it is technically the "South Pole" of the earth’s magnetic field. The geographical pole is the point at 90° northern latitude. It is the north pole that is shown on maps. the geographic North
The other skill that Vikings excelled at was the skill of navigation. Their longships were the cutting–edge technology at the time, and their ingenious sun-compass, which worked somewhat like a sundial, allowed them to sail to their destination with precision. The longships were usually made with oak boards stripped from trees with thin ropes soaked in pitch trapped between joints to act as a flexible, waterproof membrane. These ships, combined with their streamlines design, are very fast and seaworthy and would flex out of places when a sturdier ship would shatter. The sun compass is also very useful because it is the only directional tool at the time. It uses a shadow cast by a small pin in the middle of a round plate with bearings to give the direction. This tool allowed them to sail on open seas without landmarks for directions, a great advantage. This tool allowed them to sail on open seas without landmarks for directions, a great advantage.
During the European exploration, which was in the 15th and 16th century, explorers were sailing around to explore, trade, spread, or get new things. These places were throughout Europe (Spain, Portugal, etc.), America (The colonies), and through Asia. These explorers were sailing through the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. These explorations started from Portugal with Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama and this time of exploration spread to different countries and other explorers such as Christopher Columbus, Hernando Cortez and more. All this exploration was all done with new sailing innovations and navigation schools (which was created by Prince Henry) which taught people to explore and sail across the sea. Some major points of European exploration were the discovery of the new world (America), which was a new place never explored by the Europeans. The exploration of the coastlines of the Indian Ocean and the China Sea, as well as explorers trying to find new and faster sea routes to different places, which was also important. European exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries was motivated by God (spreading Christianity), gold (wealth), and glory (becoming glorious for your country
To navigate during the night and day they looked out for well-known landmarks such as mountains. They could also follow the sun and stars or watch out for birds that were found at different times and places of the year. Navigators were needed in the time of Vikings as they were the key to successful voyages. Without them Vikings would have never been able to sail across Western Europe and leave an impact that would actually make way into our history. Therefore their would of not been any impact to live on today. One example was when the Viking found their way into the Mediterranean Sea and raided the coasts of Spain but of course with the help of navigation. In addition to navigation, religion also did impact.
Advancement,something mankind has strived for since the beginning.In the 14, and 1500s advances were made such as the pencil,thermometer,microscope and globe.But in Spain the Italian born man named Christopher Columbus was eager to set out to the new world.When he was given three ships(Santa Maria,Niña
Heavenly navigation techniques, that are used in the site of sun and stars in the sky, along with knowing that the earth is a spherical, which astronomers used as a beginning to be executed by sailors that was in Columbus time.
...the stirrup was also invented by Han people as well as block printing, the compass, seismograph, map making wheelbarrow and advances in medicine, mathematics and astrology.
According to Document four, “The invention of the compass largely helped the explorers during the Middle Ages discover the Western Hemisphere of the world.” This additionally stated that without the compass, explorers wouldn’t have been able to discover the Western Hemisphere. Leaving the Chinese to not know about the Americans. Lastly, the compass didn’t just allow us to discover parts of the world, but it also helps us navigate our way when traveling. For example, when going on vacations and traveling, we are going to need to have some way of direction in order for us to know where we’re going. Today, we have our phones and maps to help us navigate our way to different parts of the world. However back then the Chinese and Americans didn’t have electronic devices to help them navigate their way through different parts of the world. All three of these quotes
it communicate with their people when they were far away, and let them see into
explorers to America and was the only way for english settlers to migrate here. Sailing pretty much populated America and made this country what it is today. Sailing has dated back to the primitive ages, with the first sailboat boat being something as simple as a hollowed out piece of wood with a cloth tied to it. With the new invention of sailing the saling techniques and designs of the boats quickly became more and more advanced. Scientists have dated the oldest sailboat remains back to 2900 b.c and the oldest illistration is dated back to the early 5th millenium. Sailing led to a whole new world of exploration, before it, people were limited to the land, but as they soon found out they could go out and discover new sights and chains of unexplored islands it became increasingly popular. Aside from using sailboats to explore, the need for fast transportation of goods made sailing a must. Eventually the military’s started using them for a quick advantage over their enemies and they became the basis of today’s navy. As the industrial revolution came the increasing demand for sailing led to further advances in the designs and development. When the world started becoming more civilized, and our need for sailing has died do to technology sailing is now used for fun and adventure and is more popular than it has ever been.
It's impossible to teach someone the significance or the act of loving the stars and the ocean but that's what makes navigation without instruments (wayfinding) so beautiful. One can "give the heavens a meaning his own meaning" says Nainoa Thompson. Anyone can learn the aspects of navigation through personal observation and the study of charts and maps. Thus creative thinking and logic are two important skills in learning the ancient art of wayfinding.
Thousands of years ago, ancient people looked up at the night sky and spotted unfamiliar objects in the sky, known as stars. Some people saw the stars as a tool to navigate at night and to keep up with the seasons. Others were completely clueless about what the stars were and why there were up in the sky. This eventually led to curiosity and the beginning of astronomy. The very first astronomers grouped stars into constellations, which basically is connecting the stars to make an imaginary outline of people, object, or animals. This allowed the astronomers to keep track of the movement of the planets and the sun, which allowed them to create the very first accurate calendar to know when it was the right time to harvest and plant.
GPS is a navigational aid that is satellite based. It is made up of a network of 24 satellites in orbit around the world. The first satellite was launched in 1978 and the last was put into orbit in 1994. Every 10 years another satellite is put into orbit because each satellite is made to last that amount of time. The system began as a military application but in the 1980’s the government decided to make it available to everyone, anywhere, anytime. The system finds your position by measuring the time it takes to receive the signal back to the satellite. It then does that with other satellites to triangulate your position in relation to the earth. To calculate a position in 2D the system has to be locked on to at least three satellites, but for a 3D representation you need to be locked on to at least 4 satellites. Once the position is found the GPS can calculate much more info like speed, bearing, track, distance, etc… The GPS system is very accurate; Garmin (a leader in GPS technology) states that their newest receiver is accurate up to an average of 15 meters.
Before I dive into the past history and how it transformed the topic of Geography, I would like to first define what geography is. Geography, in simple terms, is the “study of the world, both near and far” (Bonnett, 2008, p. 1). For the greater part of the human history, the term ‘geographical knowledge’ was coined to define the survival of the human population on the local level. Knowledge regarding the local landscape meant the difference between life and death. As societies grew, so did the push for advanced technology, not only were people growing food and raising livestock, but now they could now focus on more specialized skills. They started to explore their surroundings and came into contact with other groups of people, allowing humans
History is a series of important past events that connect with something. History is what makes people make better decisions. There are many definitions of history and everyone has their own.
The Global Positioning System consists of three sections, 1.satellites which are orbiting the planet, 2.there are numerous control/monitoring centers here on the ground, and 3. gps receivers which are used by their owners. The satellites send down signals from orbit, which are received by GPS receivers on the ground in the air or on the water, the GPS receiver then converts this information into a location longitude, latitude and altitude along with time.