The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World
by: Amir D. Aczel
List Price: $14.00
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Dewey Decimal Number: 912.0284
EAN: 9780156007535
ISBN: 0156007533
Label: Harvest Books
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: May 02, 2002
Publisher: Harvest Books
Sales Rank: 143974
Studio: Harvest Books
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
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.
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- Lost the compassAll over the globe, extremely well written and edited, but the compass is a mere bi-line in this book. ... Read More
Rating:
- I'm a bit disappointedIt started out strong then the author began to continuously repeat himself and the book became reminiscent ... Read More
Rating:
- Fascinating Tale of Discovery & Use of the CompassThe "Riddle" is well researched and written in a down to earth, flowing, enjoyable, fascinating and educational ... Read More
Rating:
- Interesting but Left Some Explanations OpenThe topic was certainly interesting, but the device is so simple that it's a little difficult to go much deeper ... Read More
Rating:
- Amateurish and poorly researched.I'll put it simply: this is a poor history of the compass. For almost ten years, publishers have been throwing money ... Read More
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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.