Chinese Thought, Society, and Science : The Intellectual and Social Background of Science and Technology in Pre-modern China

In addition, some eighteen other colleagues, former students, and scholars in various fields have helped me by answering questions, sending their writings, or supplying copies of Chinese and other texts when these were unavailable to me. Although their names are all mentioned in the footnotes, I wish to thank them warmly here as a group. This study focuses on the range of intellectual and social forces that may have favoured or disfavoured the development of science and technology in China. It explores the cultural requisites for science in early China, and compares the attitudes of Western industrialized nations to those of China.