| "Chinese Science and Culture" was a
sketch of a global history of science and technology which emphasized
China as the source of many of the prerequisite technologies of
modernity-- printing, the compass, gunpowder, cast iron, and so on-- and
discussed the historical and intellectual contexts of Chinese empirical
and theoretical knowledge of the physical world. It was basically an
effort to dismantle the assumption that there is something essentially
"Western" about science and technology.
A common stereotype is that the Chinese
traditionally lack scientific and technological ability, although,
somehow, they stumbled upon paper making, printing, gunpowder, and the
mariner's compass. Modern Chinese, themselves, sometimes are surprised
to realize that modern agriculture, shipping, astronomical
observatories, decimal mathematics, paper money, umbrellas,
wheelbarrows, multi-stage rockets, brandy and whiskey, the game of
chess, and much more, all came from China
The sciences of astronomy, physics, chemistry,
meteorology, seismology,technology, engineering, and mathematics can
trace their early origins to China. From 600 AD until 1500 AD, China was
the world's most technologically Advanced society.
Scholars routinely discovered scientific principles, invented new
technologies, and influenced the development of human civilizations
around the world. China: Ancient Arts and Sciences tells the story of
four of these revolutionary Chinese technologies: printing, paper
making, gunpowder, and the magnetic compass. Printing and paper making
impacted record-keeping and learning for Chinese society. The invention
of gunpowder gave the Chinese a distinct advantage over their enemies,
changing the nature of warfare. The compass enabled trade and
exploration in whole new ways. |