What is a compass - every student knows.Without it, lessons of geometry and drawing are not enough. Each student of a technical university has sets of sets. But who invented this instrument, how did the compass appear? The fact that they draw circles is clear from the Latin word circulus, from which the name of the instrument originated. When did compass come to humanity?
Myths and legends of ancient Greece
About how the compass appeared, briefly narratedlegends of ancient Greece. Each of us knows the story of Daedalus and his son Icarus. But few have heard that Daedalus also had a nephew of Talos, his sister's son. The talent of invention was in their blood: the nephew, after his death, left two rods interconnected and capable of drawing an ideal circle. This was the first compass.
Талос изобрел гончарный круг, когда ему было only 12 years old. He also owns the creation of a saw: this is his feat of the skeleton of a fish. If it were not for the death of Talos at a young age, many tools or mechanisms known to us would have appeared much earlier. But historians claim that the instrument is at least 3 thousand years old. Assyrians and Babylonians used compasses and a ruler in architecture, depicting smooth lines and regular circles on temples, walls of houses, on dishes and cups. The story does not name a specific source telling how the compass appeared, but without it, it was impossible to draw an even circle three thousand years ago or now.
Findings of archaeologists
Archaeologists, during excavations, find differentevidence of the earliest origin of the compass. Studying the ancient mound, in France, archaeologists found an iron tool, which was at least 2 thousand years old. Buried under the ashes of the Greek city of Pompey, became a confirmation of the antiquity of compasses: under the ashes there are many found these tools made of bronze. But on the territory of Russia there were similar findings: during the excavations in Novgorod, archaeologists discovered a compass - a steel cutter. Why did the tools of Novgorod serve? In antiquity in Russia, they loved patterns from regular circles, and they applied them with the help of this tool.
About how the compass appeared, the storyits origin in these places is all unknown. Trade relations with Byzantium were established by the Prophetic Oleg: thus, other interesting devices could appear in Russia. Interesting is the fact that the design of the tool has not changed. Over the centuries of using compasses, only attachments were added to its base, which strengthened the stylus and extended its legs.
Construction and architecture
Модернизация инструмента позволяет увеличить the circumference is up to 60 cm, with the initial growth of the compass - 12 cm. The compasses are very necessary for those involved in the design, drawings: it is difficult to build arcs, even circles. It is especially clearly seen in ancient temples that since the compasses appeared, the design of buildings and domes has become ideal. On the facade of the ancient Georgian temple Svetitskhoveli, you can see the image of the hand of the architect, behind which the tool is visible.
It is the architects, civil engineers thatmain users of the tool, without which nothing can be built. The compass and the square are the drawing devices used by the designers. Without them, arched structures and stained-glass windows on the temples of the Middle Ages would not have been created: at Notre-Dame de Paris or St. Vitus's Cathedral in Prague.
Tool variety
Как появился циркуль, краткое содержание легенды the invention is all described above. It is also said that its construction remained unchanged. But it is impossible not to notice that there appeared many analogues of the classic compass. They are intended not only for drawing circles, but also for other purposes. For example, a marking compass: with its help transfer linear marking. Or calipers. It is needed in order to be able to draw such small circles, which can be 2 mm in diameter. If you need a drawing made in the carcass, then the stylus is easily replaced by a finisher.
Vernier caliper - for measuring circles of differentdiameters. To measure the scale on the map, you need a proportional compass. Cartographers, navigators, navigators - all use this unique tool. There is also a tool called "Shturmansky".
Use in medicine
Ever since the compass appeared, he has nothas undergone major changes, but its scope has expanded significantly. Medicine is a science in which different types of this tool are used. There is a thicket compass: it is large and small. They serve to measure the body and head of a person, his transverse dimensions. The thickness of the subcutaneous fat is measured with the caliper. Especially often it is used in obstetric practice: the value of the pelvis of pregnant women is measured. Weber's compass is already a tool of psychophysiology: it measures the threshold of human skin sensitivity.
Astronomy and Symbolic Use
There is a constellation in our firmament, whichcalled "Compass". It is located in the southern hemisphere, very close to the constellation α-Centauri. It is very small. It is impossible to observe over the territory of Russia. The Greek patroness of astronomy, the goddess Urania, has a symbolic designation in the form of a globe and compass.
Since the compass appeared, it has become a symboljustice Like a square, a circle means the limits of straight lines. By itself, the figure of a circle with a dot in the center is justice and the source of life. Well-known to all masons or masons, they took into their emblem two important engineering tools - a square and a compass, combining their images. They symbolize the earth and the sky, and in the center - the letter “G”: a geometer or Supreme Being.
The Chinese use the image of a compass, whichsymbolizes their correct behavior. The Chinese emperor, Fo-hee, who was considered immortal, used compasses in his paraphernalia, and his sister used a square. And together they designate "yin" and "yang": the harmony of life.
Since ancient times, the square was considered a symbolthe physical body of a person, and the circle - his spiritual state. Thus, a circle, outlined with a compass, is a symbol of the perfection of the human soul.
