book of 1040-1044, describing an iron "south-pointing fish" floating in a bowl of water. The device is recommended as a means of orientation "in the obscurity of the night." The first suspended magnetic needle compass was mentioned by Shen Kuo in 1088.

By the early Song dynasty, steady development resulted in a spherical compass with a small needle of magnetic steel which aligns itself to point south. During the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), the compass was brought to the Arab world and Europe.

According

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