Among the earliest inventions were the abacus, the public toilet, and the "shadow clock".[29] Joseph Needham noted the "Four Great Inventions" of China as among some of the most important technological advances; these were the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing, which were later known in Europe by the end of the Middle Ages. The Tang dynasty (AD 618 - 906) in particular was a time of great innovation.[29] A good deal of exchange occurred between Western and Chinese discoveries up to the Qing dynasty. However, Needham and most scholars recognised that cultural factors prevented these Chinese achievements from developing into what might be considered "modern science". It was the religious and philosophical framework of the Chinese intellectuals which made them unable to believe in the ideas of laws of nature: It was not that there was no order in nature for the Chinese, but rather that it was not an order ordained by a rational personal being, and hence there was no conviction that rational personal beings would be able to spell out in their lesser earthly languages the divine code of laws which he had decreed aforetime. The Taoists, indeed, would have scorned such an idea as being too naïve for the subtlety and complexity of the universe as they intuited it. —[30] |
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