{"product_id":"the-shorter-science-and-civilisation-in-china-volume-1-paperback-9780521292863","title":"The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 1 (Paperback) 9780521292863","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Shorter Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 1\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eColin A. Ronan (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780521292863, Cambridge University Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback, published 19 June 1980\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e340 pages, 24 b\/w illus.  5 maps  18 tables\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.5 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eJoseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China is a monumental piece of scholarship which breaks new ground in presenting to the Western reader a detailed and coherent account of the development of science, technology and medicine in China from the earliest times until the advent of the Jesuits and the beginnings of modern science in the late seventeenth century. It is a vast work, necessarily more suited to the scholar and research worker than the general reader. This paperback version, abridged and re-written by Colin Ronan, makes this extremely important study accessible to a wider public. The present book covers the material treated in volumes I and II of Dr Needham's original work. The reader is introduced to the country of China, its history, geography and language, and an account is given of how scientific knowledge travelled between China and Europe. The major part of the book is then devoted to the history of scientific thought in China itself. Beginning with ancient times, it describes the milieu in which arose the schools of the Confucians, Taoists, Mohists, Logicians and Legalists. We are thus brought on to the fundamental ideas which dominated scientific thinking in the Chinese Middle Ages, to the doctrines of the Two Forces (Yin and Yang) and the Five Elements (wu hsing), to the impact of the sceptical tradition and Buddhist and Neo-Confucian thought.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eList of illustrations\u003cbr\u003e List of tables\u003cbr\u003e Preface\u003cbr\u003e 1. Introduction\u003cbr\u003e 2. The Chinese language\u003cbr\u003e 3. The geography of China\u003cbr\u003e 4. Chinese history: (i) the pre-Imperial Ages\u003cbr\u003e 5. Chinese history: (ii) the empire of all under heaven\u003cbr\u003e 6. The travelling of science between China and Europe\u003cbr\u003e 7. Confucianism\u003cbr\u003e 8. Taoism\u003cbr\u003e 9. The Mohists and Logicians\u003cbr\u003e 10. The fundamental ideas of Chinese science\u003cbr\u003e 11. The pseudo-sciences and the sceptical tradition\u003cbr\u003e 12. Chin and Tang Taoists and Sung Neo-Confucians\u003cbr\u003e 13. Sung and Ming idealists and the last great figures of Chinese naturalism\u003cbr\u003e 14. Buddhist thought\u003cbr\u003e 15. The Legalists\u003cbr\u003e 16. Human law and the laws of nature\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: History of science [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on History of science\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22History%20of%20science%20%5BPDX%5D%22\"\u003ePDX\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46001781440792,"sku":"9780521292863","price":34.48,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/products\/9780521292863i_10c62ee0-a1b2-4fb3-a5ea-653bd804def7.jpg?v=1691374688","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-shorter-science-and-civilisation-in-china-volume-1-paperback-9780521292863","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}