Can we use a compass and straightedge to construct a line segment of any length? By Gauss’s time, mathematicians knew the surprising answer to this question.

Using a compass is an essential skill. It’s like having a mental roll of duct tape: You don’t know when you’re going to use it, and it might kick around unused for a long time, but when you ...

This is why basic compass and map skills are so important. "Using a map with a compass is a skill that a lot of most people probably don't possess anymore," Bieri said.