The compass is an instrument containing a freely suspended magnetic element which displays the direction of the horizontal component of the Earth's magnetic field at the point of observation. The magnetic compass is an old Chinese invention. Chinese fortune tellers used lodestones to construct their fortune telling boards. Magnetite was nicknamed lodestone and used by early navigators to locate the magnetic North Pole. Eventually someone noticed that the lodestones were better at pointing out real …showed first 75 words of 394 total…

…showed last 75 words of 394 total…as early as the 4th century BCE. The innovation of the compass was essential and very beneficial for early navigators and explorers. It would aid them greatly in accurately knowing their direction when setting sail. They no longer were dependent on other systems of direction such as using specific constellations. The compass besides being a great innovation was a catalyst to other great innovations. Technology is forever changing field that never stops benefiting our lives.