what's the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of China the Great Wall its enormous population limitation products the ongoing us-china trade war constant surveillance perhaps well today we want to separate ourselves from the shenanigans of modern China and go back in time have you heard of the four great inventions in his book in Serato Magna English philosopher Francis Bacon said these inventions have altered the face and state of the world first in literary matters second in warfare third in navigation so what are these inventions we're talking about why were they invented and how did they shape modern society you're watching explore mode and today we're introducing China's four great inventions paper making printing gunpowder and the compass in 2008 China wowed the world with its Opening Ceremony performance during the Summer Olympics in Beijing feature in the ceremony were the four great inventions a Chinese painting scroll that opened up in the middle of the stadium represented papermaking then from the scroll emerged tiles with Chinese characters representing the ancient movable-type printing technology later in the ceremony the public saw Chinese Mariner and Admiral Tung who at the center of the scroll using a spoon compass to guide his voyages finally fireworks were set off representing gunpowder well let's start with paper making as Chinese characters evolved so did their writing mediums throughout history the Chinese have carved their writings on oracle bones stones silk and wood these materials serve their purpose but they were expensive hard to come by heavy and difficult to store a lighter more versatile material was needed that's where papermaking came in in China the technique was invented by tai lune an inventor from the east han dynasty however paper existed far before its hyland was around the first chinese plant fiber paper Biagio paper or bought out was made during the western han dynasty around 200 BC 5,000 years ago the ancient Egyptians had invented the most rudimentary form of paper known to humans papyrus so why is Thailand offered credit for this invention well he improved the process of paper production and brought it to the masses by making it more accessible and easier to produce in large quantities so what was his paper making recipe time for an expressive score explanation start the clock first we need to prepare the raw materials mulberry bark hemp rags and worn-out fishing nets next chop them into small pieces and soak them in water add line then cook mash and beat the mixture after it becomes a well mixed Pope screen an even layer of pulp and dehydrate by pressing it last but not least leave it out to dry and voila you've made a piece of paper nowadays paper making still consists of three major steps four main pressing and drying but of course machines take care of all that today together with the next invention mass publishing began and aided the rapid distribution of ideas and accelerate the spread of education can you guess what it is the Chinese mastered woodblock printing aka the fixed type engraved printing during the Han Dynasty they mostly printed on textiles and clothing at first words or shapes were carved on two wooden blocks then ink was applied on the surface and the block was pressed onto the material it was essentially a large stamp but with several words carved onto a single block there was a problem though as characters continue to develop new word combinations also emerged therefore a new board had to be made each time for different designs not too convenient so a few centuries later around 1040 ad during the northern Song Dynasty a Chinese artisan an inventor called be sung developed the movable type printing system single tiles of carved types were made especially focus on commonly used characters to print a page different letter types were gathered and arranged in order as time went on the materials used to make these stamps from clay to wood and metal it would be four more centuries until the invention that would become the greatest leap in the evolution of printing the Gutenberg press its inventor would go on and do the first mass production of a publication his book of choice was the Bible he did a total of about 180 copies most of which was set on paper and yes the paper was brought in from China a mini Explorer fact for you here originally gunpowder wasn't used for fireworks or bombs but medicinal purposes see alchemist in ancient China were trying to find the elixir of life by mixing different chemicals most concoctions contain an oxidizer called saltpeter also known as potassium nitrate one day they found that mixing 75% saltpeter 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur caused things to go up in flames with a loud banging it wasn't exactly what the alchemists were looking for but it was definitely something they named this compound fire medicine aka gunpowder once its lethal powers were discovered gunpowder became a weapon of war around 904 AD the Song Dynasty was fighting against invaders specifically the Mongols at the end of the Mongols song war as different gunpowder weapons were available to both sides this included fire arrows and lances flamethrowers and landmines along with other exploding weapons the Jin dynasty also used it during their fight against the Mongol invasion their weapons were called heavens shaking thunder bombs as written in the book the history of Jin the heavens shaking Thunder bomb is an iron vessel filled with gunpowder when lit with fire and shot off it goes off like a crash of thunder that can be heard from a hundred leap about 48 kilometers gunpowder set off the so called age of exploration this is the period spanning from the 15th to the early 17th century in which several European countries set off to look for new trading routes that would eventually result in the colonization of the new world gunpowder strengthened these European colonizers and played a part in establishing the power dynamic and social disparity we see today between first world country and the developing world the compass is another invention whose origins don't match their modern use at the beginning the compass was mainly used for divination and to harmonize cities and houses according to geomantic principles of Fung Shui according to an ancient Chinese collection of essays called lewin hung the earliest compass model was the South pointing ladle or sanam which means south governor the very first compasses were made with lodestone a magnetized mineral that aligns itself of the Earth's magnetic field the lodestone was carved in the shape of the Big Dipper constellation placed on a polished bronze surface and made to spin when it stopped the grip of the Dipper would consistently point to the south and the spoon would point to the north the first compasses used specifically for navigation were made by placing a magnetized fish shaped metal into a bowl of water according to the Eugene's Oh meow or the collection of the most important military techniques this type of compass would always point to the south let's talk about magnetic declination the northernmost point of the globe is called the true north which most compasses do not point to does it mean compasses don't work well not quite compasses actually point to the Earth's magnetic pole aligning to Earth's magnetism imagine earth as a huge magnet the magnetic pole are the northern lines of attraction entering the earth the angular difference between true north and magnetic north is magnetic declination see it seems like a small figure but it's important if you're using a navigation device make sure to correct your compass before using it magnetic declination changes according to where you are and it's also altered over time you can check the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website for a magnetic declination in different areas around the globe for example let's say we were in the Johnson Space Center now it's coordinates are twenty nine point five five nine three degrees north and ninety five point zero nine zero zero degrees west so we're encountering a two point seven degrees for its east plus or minus a zero point thirty three degree of magnetic declination and it would changed by 0.1 degrees towards west per year crazy right however magnetic declination is proved to be reducing and predicted to become zero in around 2050 what this world is changing every day at a lightning fast pace I mean we're putting out cellphones at three camera lenses for crying out loud computers that did basic calculations used to fit in a room now we carry a multipurpose computer in our pockets that can even talk back to us and tell us a joke or two for many our rapid technology developments showed the insane capacity the human brain has to build and innovate while others fear we may succumb to AI and self-learning machines what do you think what are the most influential inventions in the world for you 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