Name: How the compass unlocked the world
Uploaded: 2020-02-17T20:20:50Z
Duration: 3 min 6 s
Description: "Everything that we think of as world history would not have taken place without the compass." TED science curator David Biello explains how the device changed our relationship to the world.

David Biello: How the compass unlocked the world

How the compass unlocked the world

"Everything that we think of as world history would not have taken place without the compass." TED science curator David Biello explains how the device changed our relationship to the world.

The compass transformed navigation and sparked a new era of exploration, allowing people to move confidently beyond the horizon. A simple magnetized needle made it possible to find north, even on cloudy days or starless nights. First invented in China around 200 BC, it was later adapted for sea travel and improved by Europeans with the compass rose. This unassuming tool powered the age of discovery and changed humanity’s connection to the world forever.