However, builders needed to understand those two opposing forces which are called gravity and thrust if they wanted to prevent the vaults from collapsing. Finally, the builders had found a way to counteract the tall arches collapsing by adding buttresses and flying buttresses to provide more support for the stone columns (Scott 92). From the ancient time to present day, people have admired Gothic Cathedrals for their beauty. Furthermore, the Gothic Cathedrals' design has become a model for builders today, and the builders have still used and improved its techniques and advances for other cathedrals. For example, in the world today, there are many famous buildings with even larger windows, bigger spaces and taller spires such as Crystal Cathedral, Burj Khalifa, and One World Trade Center. With the breakthrough in design of Gothic Cathedrals, a new era of innovative architecture today has been created.
In addition to the invention in design of Gothic Cathedrals, the revolution of the compass has impacted the world today. The original compass, which was first invented early in the 11th century by the Chinese, used a magnetic needle for indicating direction and simply pointed North. After that, the magnetic compass had been refined by Flavio Gioia that allowed it to indicate several directions, and it had a printed card under the needle to show these directions. Later on, from the seaman's experiences, magnetic compass had been refined one more time in terms of wind by dividing directions into 16 directional points, so it became more accurate than previous compasses (Wilford 99). In those days, the magnetic compass had helped many sailors and explorers by telling them which direction they were going to, and helping them not to get lost or to keep them on track to their destinations. Nowadays in the 21st century, an accurate magnetic compass is inadequate for modern people' needs. Therefore, with the advanced technology, the most accurate system in indicating directions called GPS has been created based on the satellite system.
