Shen Kuo was a highly learned scientist who hailed from China. Shen Kuo, was the representative of the dynasty of Song. He excelled in a plethora of fields. He was a mathematician, cartographer, ethnographer, inventor, botanist, agronomist, zoologist, meteorologist and also a geologist. He was the controller of royal astronomical bureau. He was also the minister of the royal hospitality.
Shen Kuo, also known as Shen Kua is well-known for his work “Dream Pool Essays”. This book written during the 11th century explained the functions of the magnetic compass. Shen Kuo, the scientist was able to measure the exact distance between the true north and the polestar. Along with his contemporaries he also started mapping the orbital courses of the various planets and the moon. He wrote books on movable type printing that was invented by Bi Sheng. He created two atlases. One of his atlases consists of 23 maps. He had also written many poetries and songs. He had also written at length about tornadoes.
His concentration was on scientific and technical fields but he also took profound interest in occult sciences and supernatural elements.