Carrying a compass in the backcountry is a little bit like having jumper cables in your car – they’re both pretty useless if you don’t know how to use them. My dad gave me his compass years ago, to ...

Using ground-penetrating radar, researchers discovered an underground chamber containing a 500-year-old compass near Copernicus’ burial site. The compass resembles the one often depicted with ...

A small ancient tool was unearthed in the canonical gardens of Frombork, Poland, that dates back 500 years. The find was a rare compass made from copper. Its shape slightly resembles that of a ...

Magnetic rocks with iron oxide concentrations act as natural chroniclers of Earth's past continental movements. Using small samples of rocks, scientists can isolate magnetic grains that were frozen in ...

In 1508, Nicolaus Copernicus developed a celestial model of a heliocentric planetary system that transformed the way we view the universe. This bold theory, contrary to the geocentric model favored ...

Earliest records show a spoon shaped compass made of lodestone or magnetite ore, referred to as a "South-pointer" dating back to sometime during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE).

This story is a collaboration with Biography.com. Far back in 1508, with only limited tools at his disposal, Nicolaus Copernicus developed a celestial model of a heliocentric planetary system, which ...