Science and Civilisation in China
Science and Civilisation in China
$222.00
USDJoseph Needham, who died in 1995, was the greatest British historian of China of the last 100 years. His Science and Civilisation in China series caused a seismic shift in western perceptions of China, revealed as perhaps the world's most scientifically and technically productive country in pre-modern times. But why did the scientific and industrial revolutions not happen in China? Joseph Needham reflects on possible answers to this question in the concluding volume of this series and provides fascinating insights into his great intellectual quest.
- A further volume in the Science and Civilisation in China series, one of the most admired scholarly endeavours of the past half-century
- Tackles major general questions such as why the scientific and industrial revolutions did not occur in China
- Contains a large quantity of posthumously-published material
Reviews & endorsements
"This is the concluding volume for "General Conclusions and Reflections" of the monumental seriesScience and Civilisation in China. Launched in 1994 it will total some 30 volumes when completed. Highly recommended."
CHOICE
"Robinson has not only laid to rest, in his essay on literary language a prejudice reiterated over a century and a half; he has done everything anyone could do to make Joseph Needham's final views accessible. This volume will be invaluable to those interested in Needham's intellectual career, or capable of being inspired by his breadth of mind. Robinson's own writing makes it essential to everyone interested in the history of science worldwide." - China Review International Nathan Sivin, University of Pennsylvania
"[An] astonishing and enduring study...[Needham brings] depth of emotion and technical finesse to his task."
Jonathan Spence, New York Review of Books
"Perhaps the greatest single act of historical synthesis and intercultural communication ever attempted by one man."
Laurence Picken, Cambridge University
Product details
September 2004Hardback
9780521087322
336 pages
254 × 198 × 24 mm
0.861kg
21 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Prefaces
- 2. Foreword Joseph Needham
- 3. Science and society in east and west Joseph Needham
- 4. The roles of Europe and China in the evolution of ecumenical science Joseph Needham
- 5. The nature of Chinese society: a technical interpretation Huang Jen-yü and Joseph Needham
- 6. History and human values: a Chinese perspective for science and technology Joseph Needham
- 7. Literary Chinese as a language for science Kenneth Robinson and Joseph Needham
- 8. General conclusions
- 9. Joseph Needham: a soliloquy Kenneth Robinson
- Bibliographies.
