How the Chinese emperor learned about the earthquake: the ingenious invention of Zhang Han

Already at the beginning of our era, the Chinese empire occupied vast spaces, and news from the outskirts of the state could go to the capital for several days, if not weeks. This was a huge problem for the country, especially when an earthquake occurred in some part of China. People needed help, and neighboring nations, unfriendly to China, often took advantage of the situation, breaking the borders. And so, the ancient Chinese scientist Zhang Heng (also Chiang Heng) helped solve this problem by inventing the world's first seismograph - a device that captures tremors.

Reconstruction of Zhang Han Seismograph

This will seem incredible, but Zhang Heng invented a seismograph in the emperor’s palace in the II century and reported an earthquake that happened hundreds of kilometers away. The principle of operation of this device is simple and ingenious at the same time. And how the ancient seismograph was arranged can be found in this video.

In addition to the seismograph, the outstanding scientist Zhang Heng made several more discoveries and became the author of many interesting inventions. So, for example, he was the first to understand that the light coming from the moon is reflected sunlight.