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How Did Zheng He Use Magnetic Compasses?

349 Words2 Pages

o Magnetic compasses were first invented during the Qin dynasty in China and was used for fortune telling, where fortune tellers would use lodestones, a naturally magnetized mineral. Early references to a magnetic direction-finding device for land travel was recorded in a Song dynasty book in 1040-1044 . One of the first recordings of the use of magnetic compasses for navigation was during the Song dynasty and describes a magnetized needle floating in water that would align itself with the magnetic poles of the earth, regardless of the ship or boat’s orientation and movement. Zheng He was one of the first people recorded to have used a magnetic compass as a navigational tool in his seven ocean expeditions, which were organized by Ming Emperor

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