“Everything that we think of as world history would not have taken place without the compass.” Science curator David Biello explains how the device changed our relationship to the world.
Small Thing Big Idea, a TED original series, celebrates the lasting genius of everyday objects so perfectly designed that they changed the world around them. (Made possible with the support of The North Face)
Check out more here: and subscribe to our channel here:
Beautiful love from Bermuda triangle
Who ever edited this video needs to calm down.
dang – I was hoping for the secret of latitude measurements being revealed. Instead it’s animatronics.
Lmao
With the modern age of 9s attention spans down from 15s or what ever… The internet age is great, i watch much of educational content on 1.25 – 1.5 speed as well as podcasts. Ted talks also, i fear I am not alone, the creators get the video usage stats, so ted must know people tune out, so they are, like many other utubers i see now, have accelerated content with cuts to minimise tune out of those with little attention spans….. So just as history and discovery channel went a route of reality tv, so are utube creators catering to larger demand…..
@LordAugastus interesting.
Why do I need a compass when I have my GPS ?
am i on dmt
I thought it was going to be about “find your own internal compass”… nope just about compasses.
GreatCutTV lmao yeah I didn’t see an educational video coming.
Some birds and butterflys have internal compasses, not humans.
We kinda do… but our noses are not really sensitive enough to be useful
People still traveled by the sun and moon. The compass just made it easier and more refined
GPS stood for Going Places by Stars.
Chuck Brenner Indianashogman you should learn how important compass to human civilisation, in the age of discovery, compass plays a very important roles in maritime travel.
Let say you have a watch in your hand, would get accurate time by observation from the rise and position of sun and moon or you just get what you want from your watch and crack on to work?
@lau chengcin I understand that the compass helped navigation tremendously, but as long as they had the sun and moon, they didn’t get lost. They were raised to know those things.
@Chuck Brenner Indianashogman Except they didn’t always have the sun and moon. The weather can be cloudy, sometimes for weeks on end in some parts of the world, and at some time of year. This can make travel extremely risky.
♥️ Missouri ♥️
I was reading some school level magnetism and the compass and the earth’s magnetic field today and felt like pulling my hair out. This gets uploaded today… right time to put tape over my selfie cam from now on
i hope in 2020 u
learn to love yourself
learn u r worth loving
have more good days than bad
pet a lot of dogs
I dont know who you are but thank you for this
Was this edited by Guy Richie?
GPS for show, compass for a pro.
I wonder…if the earth has a core of molten iron, then could a star have a core of iron as well without going supernova?
They work great except for areas with strong magnetic field. They can even get uncalibrated if you go through the North Pole, South Pole, or Mecca.
We knew the world was a sphere long before magnetism/compasses were developed. Ancient greeks had surprisingly accurate estimates of the diameter of the earth.
Yet we still can’t navigate relationships.
Love this format. Wouldnt mind seeing more like this.
Producer: “Can you edit this video interestingly?”
Editor: *Finishing a line of Colombian Coke – “Yes”
Love these 2 or 3 minute videos.
Thank you.
Haven’t learned anything new. Just a sales pitch for compasses.
And when the magnetic poles flip…
Got to love those wish, bang, boom sound effects!
I almost lost lost my attention and moved onto a different video, but thank god they kept me staying here.