Science and civilisation in China
by Joseph Needham · first published 1954
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…what Wedgwood came up with was not only technologically inferior but also a strange cultural mishmash of influences with less cultural value than Chinese porcelain. I highly recommend Joseph Needham's "Science and Civilisation in China" Volume 5, Part 12, covers Ceramic Technology: https://books.google.com/books?id=mabcHwmAD5oC
on “Josiah Wedgwood” ↗…developed in ancient China are staggering, the more so as they'd been largely fogotten by / rendered invisible to the Chinese themselves. A find of the past few years has been Joseph Needham's truly epic Science and Civilisation in China. Begun in 1954, still in production -- the series is not yet completed, 7 volumes, 27 books. Simon Winchester (also author of The Perfectionists, mentioned in this thread, has an excellent biography,…
on “Why did we wait so long for the bicycle?” ↗Look up Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China for an absolute mind-blowing realisation of the development of Chinese technology. In fairness, the extent was largely unknown to Chinese of the time (the project began in the 1950s, it remains in process).…
on “Why no Roman industrial revolution?” ↗…mentioned are a small set -- that's just at the threshold of large-sample statistics for normally distributed data, and the datapoints here may well not bbe. For a larger set of inventions, Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China might provide an interesting basis. Under development for over half a century, the 27 volume work (several still in process) details thousands of years of innovation in China, in excruciating detail.…
on “How old were the inventors of major inventions?” ↗Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China needs mention, though you might not want to buy the whole thing. It was begun in 1954, and now runs 27 separate volumes, with several more still planned. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_Civilization_in_...
on “Why It Took So Long to Invent the Wheel (2012)” ↗If you want your mind blown on China and technology: Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_Civilisation_in_...
on “How the Oil Pipeline Began” ↗I have similar memories. The epic exploration of east Asian technology, Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China, devotes an entire volume (Vol 6, Part 5) to fermentation and food science. (The series itself is simply phenomenal.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_Civilisation_in_Ch... Canning arrived…
on “You can’t eat just any leaf (2018)” ↗…script, non-Chinese pictographic scripts such as Nushu, Naxi and Yi, etc. For early calculating devices and automata in China, especially hydraulic and astronomic, look no further than Needham's amazing Science and Civilisation in China, which is ultra expensive to get hold of in print but thanks for great glory of Kazakhstan many volumes of which are now available on libgen for your home learning pleasure.
on “Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?” ↗…Industrial Revolution occur in England and not in China, which had developed a vastly larger set of technologies far earlier") is known as the Needham Question, after sinologist Joseph Needham, author of Science and Civilisation in China, an epic 30+ volume work covering Chinese invention and technology, begun in 1954 and still in process. (Needham himself died in the 1990s.) There's a fascinating Wikipedia article on the topic, and if…
on “Why didn't the Romans contribute much to mathematics?” ↗…think of as medieval Europe, like Cordoba and Constantinople. A couple more interesting takes on global premodern science and technology - Richard Bulliet's "The Camel and the Wheel" and Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China series, which I admittedly have only skimmed, but is really fascinating stuff.
on “Why did science make little real progress in Europe in the Middle Ages?” ↗…and wheelbarrows full was technology (including, for the record, wheelbarrows). I've only learnt of the major study of this myself in the past year, British biochemist Joseph Needham's absolutely epic Science and Civilisation in China. Needham conceived of the work whilst in China on behalf of the British government during WWII, and proposed a 5-6 volume treatment in the 1950s. Seven decades later the work continues, with the total…
on “When Roman “Barbarians” Met the Asian Enlightenment” ↗…Revolution, and Lever of Riches. The question of "why Europe and not China?" is literally The Needham Question, which occupied British sinologist Joseph Needham for his entire life (and beyond -- his Science and Civilisation in China is still being written, approaching 70 years since it began, and two decades after Needham's own death. Much of the criticism of Diamond's work smells far more to me of academic jealousy over not respecting…
on “How Scientists Got Climate Change So Wrong” ↗…A notable omission from all four series is much reference to Chinese science and technology, or any reference to Burke's compatriot Joseph Needham, who compiled the definitive study of these topics, Science and Civilisation in China, a monumental work I've only learned of in the past five years or so. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_Civilisation_in_Ch...
on “James Burke Interview [video]” ↗…died in poverty, others were granted government awards or made money elsewhere, a small handful actually profited directly. I've just run across Joseph Needham's absolutely stunning 27 volume History of Science and Civilisation in China, which tells the story of Chinese invention dating back literally thousands of years (don't ask for details, as I said, just discovered it, though Needham and the work's Wikipedia pages offer substantial…
on “Why Stack Overflow Doesn’t Care About Ad Blockers” ↗…sequels to Connections aren't as good, though C3 is the better of the two. Also: if you're interested in the background of technology, look up the story of Joseph Needham and his extended exploration, Science and Civilisation in China. Begun in 1954, it remains in process, with 27 volumes. Needham himself died in 1995. Simon Winchester's written an excellent (and much shorter) biography of Needham.
on “What Was the Greatest Era for Innovation?” ↗