Product Description

Joseph Needham’s Science and Civilisation in China is a monumental piece of scholarship which breaks new ground in presenting to the Western reader a detailed and coherent account of the development of science, technology and medicine in China from the earliest times until the advent of the Jesuits and the beginnings of modern science in the late seventeenth century. It is a vast work, necessarily more suited to the scholar and research worker than the general reader. This paperback version, abridged and re-written by Colin Ronan, makes this extremely important study accessible to a wider public. The present book covers the material treated in volumes I and II of Dr Needham’s original work. The reader is introduced to the country of China, its history, geography and language, and an account is given of how scientific knowledge travelled between China and Europe. The major part of the book is then devoted to the history of scientific thought in China itself. Beginning with ancient times, it describes the milieu in which arose the schools of the Confucians, Taoists, Mohists, Logicians and Legalists. We are thus brought on to the fundamental ideas which dominated scientific thinking in the Chinese Middle Ages, to the doctrines of the Two Forces (Yin and Yang) and the Five Elements (wu hsing), to the impact of the sceptical tradition and Buddhist and Neo-Confucian thought.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #591906 in Books
• Published on: 1980-06-19
• Format: Abridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 340 pages

Customer Reviews

Excellent introduction to the History of Chinese Science
This is an abridged version of the first two volumes of Joseph Needham's masterwork "Science and Civilisation in China", an enormous work of scholarship intended to be the definitive history of the development of science and technology in China. This "Shorter" version is much more accessible to the general public, and in particular covers the topics which form the background to the development of Feng Shui. Few Westerners are aware of the high level of science and technology developed in China over the four thousand years, and how often the Chinese were ahead of the West in inventions such as gunpowder, cast iron, wheelbarrows, rudders, printing and water-power. This book details three main areas: firstly the history of Chinese Science and how it may have been transferred to the West via the Silk Routes. The second part looks at the Chinese Philosophies such as Confucianism and Taoism, and how they channeled the way that Chinese scientific thinking developed into a holistic approach in comparison to the reductionist Western method. The third part looks at the details of Chinese scientific theory including Chi energy, the five Elements, the trigrams and hexagrams of the I Ching. For the Feng Shui enthusiast, this book is a treasure trove of facts, explanations and esoteric detail, and includes sections on what Needham terms the "pseudo-sciences" of I Ching divination, Astrology and Geomancy (Feng Shui). A fascinating book which should bring an understanding of the amazing sophistication of Chinese scientific ideas and inventions to a wider audience.

(reprint from Feng Shui for Modern Living Magazine)