Abstract
THE subject of this lecture is the gyrostatic compass, often called the gyro-compass. An engineer of my acquaintance was asked if he under-stood what a gyro-compass was, and he replied, “Of course I do; it is a magnetic compass mounted upon a gyroscope.” Now the gyro-compass has nothing to do with magnetism or the magnetic compass. Theonly thing that these two instruments have in common is the property of pointing north and south. I am anxious that this should be clearly understood, because in a recent lecture I gave at Bournemouth on this very subject one of the audience asked me after the lecture how the gyro-compass was shielded from ouside magnetic influence. I pointed out, as I had endeavoured to do during the lecture, that the gyrocompass had nothing to do with magnetism, and, therefore, did not require shielding. The magnetic compass and the gyro-compass are, in fact, two absolutely different instruments operated by entirely different laws, although they are for the same purpose.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BROWN, S. The Gyrostatic Compass. Nature 105, 44–48 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/105044b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/105044b0