Contributions of Ancient China to Science and Technology

J. Needman

14th Centuries
China transmitted to Europe a veritable abundance of discoveries and inventions received by the West with no clear idea of where they had originated. Technical inventions of course travelled faster and further than the scientific thought Important influences upon nascent modern science during Renaissance period to 18th century

 Ancient Chinese scientists, mathematicians and doctors made significant advances in science, technology, mathematics, and astronomy.

Modern Science
Mechanics, dynamics, celestial and terrestrial physics..etc (Greeks) Euclidean Geometry and Ptolemaic planetary astronomy (Greeks) Basic numerational and computational techniques (Indian Numerals, Indo-Chinese zero and Chinese decimal place-value) are from Asia

Basic Knowledge from China

Magnetical phenomena Greeks Physics (Gilbert and Kepler) Practical Astronomy is one of the significant influences of China (Tycho Brahe)

Four Greatest Contribution

The compass, gunpowder, paper making, and printing

Technological infleunces
Equine harness, the technology of iron and steel Inventions of gunpowder and paper, then mechanical clock and basic engineering devices as the driving belt and chain driver .Medieval China vs Alexandrian mechanics

Seismograph

Iron Chain Suspension

Navigation

According to Francis Bacon

Printing, gunpowder and the compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries Novum Organum

Peoples Republic of China

After the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, China reorganized its science establishment along Soviet lines. From 1975, science and technology was one of the Four Modernizations, and its high-speed development was declared essential to all national economic development by Deng Xiaoping. Scientific research in nuclear weapons, satellite launching and recovery, superconductivity, highyield hybrid rice led to new developments due to the application of science to industry and foreign technology transfer.

 As the People's Republic of China becomes better connected to the global economy, the government has placed more emphasis on science and technology. This has led to increases in funding, improved scientific structure, and more money for research. These factors have led to advancements in agriculture, medicine, genetics, and global change. In 2003, China became the third country capable of sending humans into space.