††††Compasses are an instrument for drawing circles. Roman masons and carpenters were among the first to draw circles with the aid of compasses. Archaeologists discovered examples of these drawing instruments in the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. Galileo, the Italian astronomer and physicist, who lived from 1564 to 1642 invented the proportional compass, which could be set at any angle.
