Re: North again

[Ludwik Kowalski <kowalskiL@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>]

Jim Green wrote:

> OK let me ask a more fundamental question:  Where/when
> did the idea of North come about?

If this was a question from a student I would say "probably
from noticing that there is a star around which all other stars
are turning. It is Polaris. Facing this star we are facing North."
But a "fundamental question" asked by a scholar calls for
something better than a guess. So I would say "I do not know."

Here is a quote from William Gilbert (1600): "Over-inquisitive
theologians, too, seek to light up God's mysteries and things
beyond man's understanding by means of the loadstone as a
sort of Delphic sward and as an illustration of all sort of things."
Loadstone is a north-seeking magnet, presumably recognizing
this special direction. While philosophers speculated some
unknown inventors found practical ways of using the mystery
phenomenon for navigational purposes.
Ludwik Kowalski