Ideas change everything

How the compass unlocked the world

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David Biello |

Small Thing Big Idea

• January 2020

"Everything that we think of as world history would not have taken place without the compass." TED science curator David Biello explains how the device changed our relationship to the world.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

"Everything that we think of as world history would not have taken place without the compass." TED science curator David Biello explains how the device changed our relationship to the world.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

About the speaker

TED science curator, author

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David Biello is TED's science curator and the author of "The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth's Newest Age."

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Small Thing Big Idea

This TED series celebrates the lasting genius of everyday objects so perfectly designed that they changed the world around them. (Made possible with support from The North Face)

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