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The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World

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The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World

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Paperback(First Edition)
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Overview

The story of the compass is shrouded in mystery and myth, yet most will agree it begins around the time of the birth of Christ in ancient China. A mysterious lodestone whose powers affected metal was known to the Chinese emperor. When this piece of metal was suspended in water, it always pointed north. This unexplainable occurrence led to the stone's use in feng shui, the Chinese art of finding the right location. However, it was the Italians, more than a thousand years later, who discovered the ultimate destiny of the lodestone and unleashed its formidable powers. In Amalfi sometime in the twelfth century, the compass was born, crowning the Italians as the new rulers of the seas and heralding the onset of the modern world. Retracing the roots of the compass and sharing the fascinating story of navigation through the ages, The Riddle of the Compass is Aczel at his most entertaining and insightful.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780156007535
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/02/2002
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	7.96(w) x 5.24(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Amir D. Aczel, Ph.D. grew up on a ship and was navigating straits in the Mediterranean long before he could drive a car. The author of Fermat's Last Theorem, God's Equation, The Mystery of the Aleph, and Probability 1, he lives with his wife and daughter in the Boston area and teaches at Bentley College.

	Preface	ix
1	Odyssey	1
2	Signs in the Sea and Sky	9
3	Dante	29
4	The Etruscan Chandelier	39
5	Amalfi	53
6	The Ghost of Flavio Gioia	63
7	Iron Fish, Lodestone Turtle	77
8	Venice	91
9	Marco Polo	111
10	Charting the Mediterranean	123
11	A Nautical Revolution	133
12	Conclusion	153
	A Note on the Sources	161
	References	165
	Acknowledgments	169
	Index	171

Interviews

An Exclusive Interview with Amir Aczel

Barnes & Noble.com: You've written many popular science books, such as Fermat's Last Theorem and The Mystery of the Aleph. How did you become a science writer?

Amir Aczel: It was purely by chance. I'd been writing textbooks for many years. Then I had an idea about Fermat's Last Theorem - actually the idea was for a novel, but the publisher I called (John Oakes) said: "Nah…why don't you write the real story?" So I did.

B&N.com: What led you to write about the origins of the compass?

AA: I grew up on a ship. My father was a ship's captain. So I'd always been close to the compass, navigation, and the sea. Again, the book was the result of a phone conversation with (another) publisher.

B&N.com: In the book you try to uncover the truth about the mysterious Italian Flavio Gioia, who is credited with inventing the compass. Did you personally hope that he was real?

AA: Yes. I really hoped he would turn out to be a real person, and I was sure he must have had a great personal story. Unfortunately, he'd been hunted down by generations of historians, and they concluded he never existed.

B&N.com: The aesthetics of the early compasses, especially the Chinese compass made in the shape of a turtle, are quite striking. Did you have any favorites?

AA: I like the fish floating on water (also Chinese, c. A.D. 1040) the best.

B&N.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?

AA: What is so interesting about the story of the compass is that the invention was there a thousand years ago -- or more! -- and that it has taken so long for it to become implemented in navigation. Also, it's interesting that the invention really changed the world by allowing commerce to flourish and, thus, it helped create the "world economy" we see today!

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Fermat's Last Theorem
This is a captivating volume. Equally important is the sense of awe that Mr. Aczel imparts for the hidden, mystical harmonies of numbers, and for that sense of awe alone, his slender volume is well worth the effort."-The New York Times

While avoiding technical details, Aczel maps the strange, beautiful byways of modern mathematical thought in ways the layperson can grasp."-Publishers Weekly

For more than three centuries, Fermat's Last Theorem was the most famous unsolved problem in mathematics; here's the story of how it was solved."-Kirkus Reviews

—

From the Publisher

In lucid prose, the author explains both the 12th-century Italian invention of the compass and this life-saving instrument's extraordinary prehistory. Especially fascinating is Aczel's description of a mysterious ancient Chinese antecedent of this seafarers' device.

bn.com

Aczel imparts for the hidden, mystical harmonies of numbers, and for that sense of awe alone, his slender volume is well worth the effort.

Aczel imparts for the hidden, mystical harmonies of numbers, and for that sense of awe alone, his slender volume is well worth the effort.

New York Times

Despite its brevity, this book covers its topic completely. In this detailed history, Aczel (God's Equation) takes us back in time to Amalfi, Italy, where between 1295 and 1302 the compass as we know it was developed. Aczel points out, however, that the actual discovery of materials that followed magnetic lines, or at least consistently pointed in a specific direction (south), is attributed to the Chinese in 1040. The story of the compass is also the story of navigation, which the author admirably combines. Debunking the myth that sailors followed the coastlines of countries until they met their desired location, the author describes how they navigated the open seas using the sun, stars, wind, and even the migration of birds. While this book is not a page-turner, it is an accurate account of the important historical events that lead to the compass's development. Tellingly, Aczel grew up on a ship and was navigating straits in the Mediterranean long before he could drive a car. Recommended for public as well as academic libraries whose readers want to go beyond the account generally given in an encyclopedia. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/01.] James Olson, Northeastern Illinois Univ., Chicago Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Adult/High School-Prior to the invention of the compass, a merchant or sailor who wished to cross a large body of water was forced to navigate by studying the winds and stars or by never sailing out of the sight of land. Long ocean voyages were impossible and even sailing the Mediterranean could be a lengthy and hazardous voyage. The compass changed all of this. Mariners could now strike out on an azimuth and have a reasonable chance of arriving at their destination. This led to the Age of Exploration and the expansion of the European kingdoms into economic empires. Yet as important as the compass is, its origins are shrouded in mystery. The small town of Amalfi, Italy, claims to be the birthplace of the inventor of the compass, but China has an even stronger case. Aczel examines the myths, legends, and facts behind the dispute and provides a logical, although not indisputable, conclusion on which nation can claim the compass as its own. He also provides a layman's overview of the development of navigation from the earliest days to the 15th century. Although the author is primarily known for his scientific books, Riddle of the Compass contains little or no jargon and a minimum of scientific terminology. A worthwhile and interesting addition.-Robert Burnham, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Talented popular-science writer Aczel (God's Equation) enthusiastically delves into the story of the magnetic compass. There is no mistaking the importance Aczel places on the magnetic compass, which he calls "the most important technological invention since the wheel." For him, that importance lies largely in its role (during the 13th-century revolution in maritime trade) in making the transport of goods efficient and reliable. Like many major inventions, the compass was a synthesis of extant parts—a magnetized needle, a wind rose, a 360-degree field—and the author tracks down its genesis both in Asia and Europe. He suggests that it was in China, sometime prior to a.d. 1040, that the first compass (a magnetized iron fish suspended in water) was constructed. Soon thereafter, also in China, came a wooden turtle that pivoted in a post to the dictates of its lodestone tail. China may even have had a dry magnetic compass as early as the first century, but since the Jesuits burned many of the ancient Chinese texts, we may never know. In Europe, the boxed compass produced in the Italian seacoast town of Amalfi at the turn of the 14th century was the first on record. But Aczel's story ranges way beyond these conjectures, seeking the historical contexts in which the compass took shape. He describes the origins of feng shui, elaborates on Etruscan divination methods, sketches the art of reading the wind, offers short histories of Tuscany and Venice and Marco Polo, and trails a rumor that a Chinese divination compass made its way to the cults of Samothrace. Nimble writer that he is, Aczel keeps these and other topics in constant, fluid motion, like a master juggler. Acompulsively readable investigation, as attracting as the magnetic north.

Kirkus Reviews

The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World

The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World

Paperback(First Edition)

Paperback(First Edition)

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Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Interviews

Customer Reviews

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Interviews

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews