Shen Kuo

polymath

1031 – 1095 · 64 years · Zhenjiang · Asia

Song dynasty polymath who first described the magnetic compass for navigation and theorised about geological change.

Portrait: Hans A. Rosbach · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Contemporaries around the world

William the Conqueror — Duke of Normandy, King of England, 3 years older
Henry IV — emperor humbled at Canossa in his struggle with the pope, 19 years younger
Edward the Confessor — pious king who built Westminster Abbey, 28 years older
Philip I — son of Anne of Kiev, excommunicated for bigamy, 21 years younger
William II Rufus — the Conqueror's son, killed by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest, 25 years younger
Henry I — king who married Anne of Kiev, daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, 23 years older

Vladimir II Monomakh — Grand Prince of Kiev, 22 years younger
Yaroslav the Wise — Grand Prince of Kiev, 53 years older
Vsevolod I — prince of Kiev, father of Vladimir Monomakh, 1 year older
Iziaslav I — prince of Kiev twice driven from his capital, 7 years older
Sviatopolk II — prince of Kiev, participant in the Congress of Liubech, 19 years younger
Nestor the Chronicler — monk and chronicler, 25 years younger