So it was a very complex process. The Chinese invented the compass and then used it to travel the open seas. NOVA: It sounds like these technological innovations and the economic boom went hand in ...

Primarily, the compass was used for geomancy for a long time before it was used for navigation Ancient Chinese alchemists realized that the magnetite ore would point towards a magnetic north. Their ...

China's long history has seen some extremely important inventions emerge, most noticeably gunpowder, paper making, printing and the compass, which, in the words of Roger Bacon, changed the whole ...