Group 2 Sts Mahabang Summary

8/6/2019 Group 2 Sts Mahabang Summary

1/13

POVERTIES AND TRIUMPHS OF THE CHINESE

SCIENTIFIC TRADITION

by

Joseph Needham

THE FACE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND TRADITIONAL CHINA

Remarkable achievements of Chinese in mathematics:1. Decimal metrology, along with decimal place value and blank spaces for

zeros

2. Algebraic mathematical thought

3. The system of linked and pivoted rings (known now as Cardan suspension)

4. Invention of astronomical devices such as the equatorial mounting and the

clock-drive

Achievements of Chinese in the field of engineering (mainly

mechanical)

1. Efficient harness for equine animals

2. Water-power

3. Mastery of iron-casting

4. Mechanical clockwork

5. Iron-chain suspension bridges

6. Hydraulic engineering for control of waterways for river conservation,

irrigation, and tax-grain transport

Chinese also showed innovation in martial technology

1. First appearance of gunpowder

2. Development of explosive devices

3. Fire-lance as a key invention (rocket composition enclosed in a bamboo tube

used as a close-combat weapon)

Other aspects of technology:1. Silk

2. Mastery of textile fiber (driving belt and the chain-drive)

3. Metallurgical blowing engine

4. Development of paper

5. Block printing

6. Movable-type printing

7. Porcelain

8. Field of biology and agriculture:

9. Plant protection (biological control of insect pests)

10.Mineral remedies11.Inoculation (or immunization)

CONTRASTS BETWEEN CHINA AND THE WEST

The organicist view in which every phenomenon was connected according to

hierarchical order was universal among Chinese thinkers.

Chinese were inclined a priori to field theories.

Differences:


2/13

Chinese mathematical thought and practice was algebraic, not

geometrical.1. No Euclidean geometry spontaneously developed.

2. Euclidean geometry was probably brought to China in the Yuan (Mongol)

period but did not take root until the arrival of the Jesuits'.

Chinese practice was not purely empirical.Successful erection of the great clock-tower

There is the wave-particle antithesis

The hesitation of the Chinese to engage in theory, especially geometrical theory,

had advantages

Very careful experimentation was practiced in classical Chinese culture

Discovering magnetic declination

Ceramics industry

The fact that relatively little written material concerning these technical details

were discovered came from social factors which prevented the publication of the

records, kept by the higher artisans.

THE SOCIAL POSITION OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS IN TRADITIONAL

CHINA

Science, both pure and applied, has a relatively official character

1. Astronomers are civil servants

2. Artisans and engineers also participated in this bureaucratic character

The imperial workshops were situated not only at the capitals of successive

dynasties but also in the most important provincial cities.

In the relatively private sector, particular localities derived fame from skills

which tended to concentrate at sites of natural resources

The question of status is a very difficult one and still under investigation.free plebeians (shu-jen or liang-jen)

slaves of semi-servile people

the State relied upon an inexhaustible supply of obligatory unpaid labour

in the form of the corvee (yao or kung-yu).

In the Han period, every male commoner between the ages of twenty and

fifty-six was liable for one month's labour service a year

Practice of paying dues in lieu of personal service came about

There were a certain number of artisans in the slave or semi-servile

portion of the population.

Five chief categories:

1.High officials (scholars who had successful and fruitful careers)

2. Commoners

3. Members of the semi-servile groups

4. Those who were actually enslaved

A prominent group of minor officials(scholars who were not able to make their

way upwards in the ranks of the bureaucracy)

FEUDAL-BUREAUCRATIC SOCIETY


3/13

In classical Chinese society certain sciences were orthodox and others the

opposite.

1. Institution of the calendar and its importance made astronomy one of the

conventional sciences.

2. Mathematics was considered suitable as a pursuit for the educated scholar,

and similarly physics.3. Hydraulic engineering was regarded favourably among the traditional

scholars due to need of irrigation and water conservation

4. Alchemy was distinctly unorthodox, the characteristic pursuit of disinterested

Taoists and other recluses.

Medicine was rather neutral.

The centralized feudal-bureaucratic style of social order was favorable to the

growth of applied science.

The seismograph being paralleled by rain- and even snow-gauges,

probably from the desire to be able to foresee coming events.

Chinese society in the Middle Ages was able to mount much greater expeditions

and pieces or organized scientific field work:

The meridian arc surveyed early in the eighth century

An expedition sent down to the East Indies for the purpose of surveying

constellations in the southern Hemisphere

From early times Chinese astronomy had benefited from State support but the

semi-secrecy which it involved was to some extent a disadvantage.

INVENTION AND LABOR-POWER

Chinese labour conditions were no bar to a long series of "labour-saving"

inventions.

Lugging and hauling was still prevented as much as possible, despite Chinas

strong manpower, in contrast to Europe, where they refused to be innovative forfear of technological unemployment

In Chinese history:

1. There is no event that paralleled to the slave-manned oared war galley

of the Mediterranean

2. Arrival of great junks at Zanzibar of Kamchatka

3. The water-mill considered to be more humane and cheaper than man-

or animal-power

Water-power applied to textile machinery

Whereas in Europe:

The refusal to build machines to move temple columns on the groundFrame knitting machine in the 17th century A.D.

Shortage of labour may not in every culture be the sole stimulus for labour-

saving inventions, as seen in China

Philosophical and Theological Factors

CONFUCIANISM in China

live in happiness and harmonytogether within society


4/13

natural law- that way of behavior which it consorted with the actual nature of

man that man should pursue.

ethical behaviourinvolved w/ the nature of the holy, but not divine

human relations and social order

TAOISM in China

their Tao : Order of Nature,not merely the order of human life

Worked in organic way

extremely interested in Nature

tended to distrust reason and logic,

remain unreadable or impenetrable

tended to be mystical-experimental rather than rational-systematic

Western Civilization

natural law -juristic sense;

the laws of Nature- sense of the natural sciences

earthly imperial law-givers: codes of positive law to be obeyed by mencelestial and supreme rational Creator Deity: laws obeyed by minerals,

crystals, plants, animals and the stars in their courses

the development ofmodern science at the Renaissance in the West

Babylonians

celestial law-giver: had its first origins for non-human natural phenomena

sun-god Mardukis pictured as the law-giver to the stars

Christians

the conception of divine legislation over non-human nature remained

Renaissance

Copernicus- never used the expression "law"

Keplerwho did- three laws of planetary motion

Agricola- first applications of the expression "law" to natural phenomena

CHINESE WORLD-VIEW:

harmonious co-operation of all beings

they were all parts in a hierarchy of wholes forming a cosmic and organic

pattern

conceptions of law did not develop the idea of laws of Nature for

several different reasons: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. distaste formulated abstract codified law

2. accepted customs (mores) more suitable for Chinese society

3. never put into formal legal terms & very humannot easy to extend to a non-human nature

Supreme Being-depersonalized and lacked the idea of creativity

prevented the development of the conception of laws for non-human

Linguistic Factor

Science and Technology LANGUAGE!!!

the ideographic language as inhibitory


5/13


6/13


7/13

systematic strength-of-material tests

water-wheel linkwork escapement clocks

the textile machinery

Remember!!!

modern and natural science IS GREATER than Euclidean geometry and Ptolemaic

math2. Galilean break-through does not constitute the whole of science

3. Men of the Asian cultures also helped to lay the foundations of mathematics and

all the sciences in their medieval forms

END.

PRE-COLONIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE

THIRD WORLD

physical reality

Physical reality has existed in several other areas of the world throughout history,

not only in the classical civilizations of China, South Asian and the Middle East (and

later of medieval Europe) but also in smaller social entities - even those at a tribal

level.

'No single, "scientific" trait can be shown to be a distinctive Western trait,

confined only to modern Western thought, nor does it obtain unqualifiedly

throughout modern Western countries.' (Yehuda 1977).

Science ...

The search for explanations of physical reality', meaning, in the case of the physical

sciences, explanations of the reality which is out there', manipulable by hand or by

instruments, and separate from the mind.

Science...

In the case of the social sciences, the fact that the human observer intrudes upon

and thus disturbs the field of his observations has long been recognized.Economy

Irrigated Agriculture

wheat and barley ; bananas, melons and peas

Cultivated cotton

Religion

Siva Worship

Goddess worship

Architecture

Well developed

Building laid out systematically

Modern drainage system

Bronze Technology

Mohenjodaro and Harappa

Citadel

Town planning

Shows high degree of uniformity


8/13

Modern sewerage system

Bathing places

Pottery

Wheel turned pottery with a standard size also indicates an ability to manufacture

according to specification.

SculptureAccessories

Education

-ability to perform simple arithmetical calculations necessary for the maintenance of

the extensive commercial link of the area.

CultureYoga type religious practices

Siva-like gods

Trivanka sculpture

Vedic Period15th century BC

Next phase of the South Asian cultural and intellectual search.

Aryans- essentially nomadic barbarians

Horse and chariots

Vedas

Nak Shatra system- Based on lunar months which contrasted with Babylonian

Zodiac which was solar

Meruprastara- A pyramidal expansion of the number of combination of two, etc.

syllables formed of short and long sounds.

Ayurveda

-There is a systematic knowledge of plants and animals with a developed system ofclassification.

PhilosophyThere is an intense curiosity about ultimate fate of mankind.

Wandering scholars of Medieval Europe gathered in bands and engaged in intense

discussion and debate, expressing sometimes radically differing views

62 heretical thought system

It indicates the variety of philosophical and intellectual views of the period.

Charvakas

-materialism

- direct perception is the true means of knowledge.-do not believe in karma and do not perform rituals

Upanishads

Description of nature Pancha bhutas

5 elements

prthvi, ap, tejas, vayu and akasa (earth, water, heat, air and 'emptiness'

respectively) provide a paradigmatic background, as it were, for the systematic

interpretation of the material world.


9/13

The belief underpins the Aristotelian view of physical world.

Also explains Ayurveda

Ayurvedic Surgery

Susruta dividing surgery into incision, excision, scarification, puncturing,

exploration, extraction, evacuation and suturing.

Surgery included treatment of cataracts, laparotomy, lithotomy and plasticoperations (ibid.).

the Charaka Sanhitha alone is three times the size of the entire surviving

medical literature of ancient Greece (Chattopadhyaya 1977 p. 20).

Atharvaveda (8th Century BC) describes the use of gold to preserve life

Thus mathematicians and astronomers such as Aryabhata I, Bhaskara I,

Brahmagupta, Mahavira, Aryabhata II, Munjala, Sripati, Sridhara and Bhaskara II

compiled well-known technical texts.

Aryabhata I, knew how to calculate square and cube roots, and knew the properties

of triangles, circles, spheres, arithmetical progression, summation of series and the

rule for solving indeterminate equations of the first order.

He gave a value for correct to four decimal places and knew the values of 24 sines.

Bhaskara I was aware of the solutions to indeterminate equations of the first degree

and provided precise rules for the calculation of the area of a cyclic quadrilateral,

the volume of a prism and the length of the two diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral.

He also dealt with indeterminate equations of the second degree.

Bhaskara came very close to evolving a differential system of calculus

Astronomy developed from the ancient ideas of cosmology, such as the mahayuga

concept and gave rise to several important texts, the Siddhantas

The first major astronomer Aryabhata I developed a theory of the rotation of the

earth and of epicycles while Brahmagupta refuted Aryabhata's theories on the

rotation of the earth. Bhaskara II further developed theories about the evolutionof planets by epicyclic-eccentric motions

-- South Asian atomic theories, however, have had a continuous, unbroken

tradition, the Vaisesika atomic system, for example, continuing until the 18th

Century

South Asia

Acoustics

Phonetic tradition

Recitation of religious texts (the correct way)

Paninis linguistic analysisOctave = 22 quartertones

Overtones = responsible for differences in timbre

For the western people: appearance in 14th century.

Buddhadasa of Sri Lanka

Subarayappa --Early enquiries into the nature of physical reality

Motion

Vaisesikas: impetus theory


10/13

Bodies = javelins, arrows

Medical texts

Pathology of plants and animals

Documented instances of routine surgical operations on animals

Logic and epistemologyDeveloped because of the deep interest in philo and debate.

Nyaya sutras and Buddhists and Jains = basic texts on logic

Pramana = means to reliable knowledge

False arguments was known (reduction, ad absurdum, circular argument, infinite

regression)

Indian logic > Greek tradition (in terms of categories and concepts)

Epistemological relativity (Jain logic)

There was no break in the continuation of the sciences (unlike the European middle

ages)

Arab-Persian tradition= Greek science and technology + South Asianknowledge

16th century: Shirazi invented a wagon mill, a machine for cleaning gun barrels, a

portable cannon, a 17-band cannon, and a travelling bath. (this is also in the time of

the Renaissance)

Rahman (1975)

Bibliography of Indian works from the 8th to the 19th centuries

Vigorous and continuous growth in science throughout the medieval period.

10,000 source materials

Major developments were in astronomy, medicine, chemistry, and math.

18th century, western science and tech begun to take a strong hold on

South AsiaDue to western dynamism

Fast growth

Increasing plausibility of its system for explaining the physical world

The advent of western colonial incursion (more of south asia getting weaker)

Americas

Distinct regional flavour

Incas

Terraced agriculture

Extensive system of roads (with rest houses)

Equal arm balance Mortarless masonry

Plumb bob

Metal working

Construction and management of large-scale irrigation systems

System of measures and weights ( land measurement was required for taxes)

Mayas


11/13

Astronomy and math

Positional system

The zero

Calendars (calculation of the solar year)

Knowledge in non-EU world

Physical means: may be manipulated by means

Mental maps and knowledge systems: phenomena outside the realm of the

immediately manipulable.

Nature and structure of the moon

Nature of light

Nature of the earth below ones feet

Thunder and lightning

The uncontrollable is not left as a gap in mans mental map: its nature is

constructed and fitted into mans mind, and given a dynamic form

Metaphors formed by early man = metaphors modern scientists use.Explanation of the maximum of phenomena by the minimum postulates

The Rigveda Sanhitha

Water = all the rest being derived from water

Five elements (pancha bhutas) (There are other variations

to it)Prthvi: earth: nails, bones, teeth, flesh

Ap: water: blood, fat, mucus, sweat

Tajas: fire: bile, heat, and lustre, color

Vayu: air: movement

Akasa: ether (non material ubiquitous substance): soundFive forms of matter exist in everything in the world, because of their mutual

interrelation, because of their mutual interdependence and because of their

interpenetration (Chattopadhyaya, 1976)

Akasa (pancha bhutas concept)

Occupies non-material place. Together with space and time.

All materials have direct contact with it

Has the five qualities of number, dimension, distinctness, conjunction, and

disjunction (also possessed by space and time)

Space (Nyaya Vaisesika)

Fundamental base for the designation of different notions of directions (east, west,

north, south)

All-pervasive, indestructible, and unitary.

Presence of space: why we are occupying separate positions.

Not a simple container, objective reality with specific qualities.

Nearness

Remoteness


12/13


13/13

*Medieval Muslims have mill power

*grindmills became a necessity,

as well as windmills

*Banu of Musa:

The book of Ingenious Devices

This should not in any way be allowed to devalue the achievements ofthe Muslim engineers, known and anonymous. Nor should we over-

emphasize the relevance of the Islamic inventions to the development

of modern machinery. Of equal or greater importance is the contribution

they made to the material wealth, and hence the cultural riches, of the

medieval Near East.

END.

Group 2 Sts Mahabang Summary

Documents

Transcript of Group 2 Sts Mahabang Summary