Where did shen kuo live
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Shen Kuo
1031-1095
Scientist
Sources
Reputation. Shen Kuo’s reputation has been mostly in the field of scientific writing: he was the first to illustrate and build orographic maps; the first to illustrate accurately the source of fossils and the marine origin of some rocks; and the first to hint at atmospheric refraction. Furthermore, his inquisitiveness aroused his interest in such subjects as music, painting, calligraphy, and philosophy, in addition to the technical applications of science, such as the workings of armillary spheres, dams, sluices, and calendars.
Early Life. In 1040, when Shen Kuo was only nine years old, he was fond of reading. His mother, a learned person, had a great impact on the boy. When he was eleven he started receiving a formal education, and in 1043 he followed his father to a new city, observing many towns on the way. Shen Kuo then began to study calligraphy. As a child his health was poor, and he suffered eyestrain when he was eighteen years old because of reading too often at night. In 1054 as a registrar Shen Kuo channeled and drained
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Shen (1031-1095) was a native in Qian Tang of Zhejiang Province. He held a number of official posts during his life. He served as an envoy to the Liao Kingdom and led troops in battle. At one time he served as the highest financial official, and even director of the imperial observatory.
Shen Kuo completed his famous scientific workMeng Xi Bi Tan(Dream Pool Essays) after retirement. In the book, he wrote a lot about the animals and plants he had seen when traveling through the country, such as giant clam in the South Sea, crocodile in Chaozhou, Chinese wolfberry in the northwest of China and jerboa in the desert
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Shen Kuo's Breakthrough in Navigation: The Magnetic Compass
Meet Shen Kuo, a remarkable polymath and statesman from the Song Dynasty in China (960-1279). With a courtesy name of Cunzhong and a pseudonym of Mengqi Weng, Shen was renowned for his exceptional skills in mathematics, optics, and horology. Throughout his career as a civil servant, Shen held various high-ranking positions including finance minister, state inspector, head official for the Bureau of Astronomy, Assistant Minister of Imperial Hospitality, and academic chancellor. As a dedicated member of the Reformist faction known as the New Policies Group, led by Chancellor Wang Anshi, Shen's political allegiance added to his influence in the court.
Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays of 1088 revolutionized navigation with his discovery of the magnetic needle compass. He was the first to describe its use, preceding European description by Alexander Neckam in 1187. Shen's experiments with suspended magnetic needles led to the concept of true north, determined by magnetic declination towards the North Pole. This groundbreaking di
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