“Navigation, in its simplest form, means finding your way to and from a point. » For much of human history, naval navigation consisted of traveling on rivers and waterways and, at sea, following the coastline so as not to get lost. The compass changed that; sailors could sail boldly into the middle of an ocean and know that if they headed west, all they had to do to return was head east. The compass itself is a simple navigation instrument that contains a magnetic component that aligns with the Earth's magnetic pole, allowing the user to know the directions of North and South, then East and the West. Due to its ease of use and efficiency, the compass played a major role in the age of exploration and, therefore, played a major role in shaping the world of today. Because of its great importance, the compass represented the most significant advancement in navigation before 1350 AD. Before detailing the reasons for the importance of the compass, it is important to first know its creation. The Chinese first created a compass-like instrument during the Han dynasty, between three hundred and two hundred BC. The Chinese made these rudimentary compasses from magnetite, whose magnetic properties they had already discovered around 300 BC. They were then shaped into a ladle shape and placed on a flat bronze plate. Although the compass was not primarily used for direction, it was used in this way as early as 400 BC, as evidenced in the Book of the Master of Devil's Valley where jade hunters were described as taking a " pointer to the south” so as not to be found. lost. However, the Chinese did not begin to use the compass on a large scale for naval and land navigation until around the eleventh...... middle of article......ers, 2002.Lowrie, William. “Historical introduction (page 281).” In Foundations of Geophysics, . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997Magnet Lab. “Pages relating to electricity and magnetism”. National High Magnetic Fields Laboratory: Museum of Electricity and Magnetism. http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/museum/chinesecompass.html (accessed April 22, 2014). Merrill, Ronald T. and MW McElhinny. “Chapter One: History of geomagnetism and paleomagnetism.” In The Earth's Magnetic Field, Its History, Its Origin and Its Planetary Perspective, . London, UK: Academic Press Inc., 1983. Tyson, Peter. “Secrets of ancient browsers.” PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/secrets-of-ancient-navigators.html (accessed April 27, 2014). US Navy Museum. "Navigation." Navigation. http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/teach/ends/navigation.htm (accessed March 22, 2014).