Science in Traditional China: a Comparative Perspective (Chien Mu lectures) - Hardcover

Needham, Joseph

 
9789622012127: Science in Traditional China: a Comparative Perspective (Chien Mu lectures)

Synopsis

The world’s preeminent authority on Chinese science explores the philosophy, social structure, arts, crafts, and even military strategies that form our understanding of Chinese science, making instructive comparisons along the way to similar elements of Indian, Hellenistic, and Arabic cultures. A major portion of the book concentrates on Taoist alchemy that led not only to the invention of gunpowder and firearms, but also, through the search for macrobiotic life-elixirs, to the rise of modern medical chemistry.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review

Freewheeling, amusing, constantly alert and rarely dogmatic ... Needham keeps the reader aware of the place of China within a comparative context of global scientific discovery... [a] stimulating book.--Jonathan Spcnce "New York Times Book Review "

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title