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    Unavailable
    The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World
    Unavailable
    The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World
    Unavailable
    The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World
    Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

    The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World

    Written by Amir Aczel

    Narrated by Henry Leyva

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 2, 2001
    ISBN9780739300770
    Unavailable
    The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World
    Author

    Amir Aczel

    Amir D. Aczel, Ph.D., is the author of the international bestseller Fermat's Last Theorem, which has been published in twenty-eight languages. A past recipient of a Sloan Foundation grant and a Guggenheim fellowship, Aczel was a visiting scholar at Harvard University from 2005 to 2007 and is currently a research fellow in the history of science at Boston University. He is a regular contributor to Discover magazine.

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    Reviews for The Riddle of the Compass

    3/5

    41 ratings3 reviews

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    • 3/5
      My favorite thing about it may be his multiple references to Taylor's "Haven finding art..." which, though decades old and quite scarce, is one of my favorite books of all time. It isn't as compelling a story as Sobel's Longitude but was a quick and enjoyable read in the same vein.
    • 4/5
      This was a quick, but good read. Well researched, with references given at the end, this was a fascinating tale of the dissemination of the technology which enabled advancement in navigation. I had a few minor quibbles, such as the reference to Magellan's voyage proving the world to be spherical. But, overall a great read, and I learned many new things.
    • 3/5
      Meh. Its an easy read, but I found it to be rather boring - its mostly full of conjecture, especially at the beginning, and for the most part, to dry. The chapters on how Venice became such a big player in sea trade was very interesting. Recommended if you are interested in the subject, but skip if you are just looking for a bit of pop-history.