Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 6, Biology and Biological Technology, Part 5, Fermentations and Food Science

Needham Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China Vol. 6 Biology and Biological Technology - Part 5 Fermentations and Food Science 2000 [pdf 770sc 741c. 54.53mb] Today Chinese cuisine is enjoyed in many parts of the world, yet little is known in the West about the technologies involved in making its characteristic ingredients. H. T. Huang's book is the first history of Chinese food technology in a Western language. It describes the conversion of agricultural commodities into food and drink, and explores the origins, development and scientific basis of traditional Chinese technology as applied to the processing of four food categories: the fermentation of alcoholic drinks from grains; the conversion of soybeans into soyfoods and condiments; the preservation of foods and the production of vegetable oils, malt sugar, starch, etc; and, lastly, the processing and utilization of tea. Where possible the Chinese experience is compared with equivalent systems in the West and elsewhere. The book ends with reflections on how nature, technology and human intervention have shaped the discovery and innovation of processed foods in traditional China. v. 1. Introductory orientations. v. 2. History of scientific thought. v. 3. Mathematics and the sciences of the heavens and the earth. v. 4. Physics and physical technology: pt. 1. Physics, with the collaboration of Wang Ling and the special co-operation of Kenneth Girdwood Robinson. pt. 2. Mechanical engineering. pt. 3. Civil engineering and nautics with the collaboration of Wang Ling and Lu Gwei-Djen. v. 5. Chemistry and chemical technology: pt. 1. Paper and printing / by Tsien Tsuen-hsuin. pt. 2. Spagyrical discovery and invention: magisteries of gold and immortality, with the collaboration of Lu Gwei-Djen. pt. 3. Spagyrical discovery and invention: historical survey, from cinnabar elixirs to synthetic insulin. pt. 4. Spagyrical discovery and invention: apparatus, theories, and gifts. pt. 5. Spagyrical discovery and invention : physiological alchemy / with the collaboration of Lu Gwei-Djen. pt. 6. Military technology, missiles and sieges. pt. 7. Military technology, the gunpowder epic. pt. 9. Textile technology, spinning and reeling / by Dieter Kuhn. pt. 12. Ceramic technology / by Rose Kerr and Nigel Wood. pt. 13. Mining / by Peter J. Golas. v. 6. Biology and biological technology. pt. 1. Botany. pt. 2. Agriculture / by Francesca Bray. pt. 3. Agro-industries and forestry / by Christian Daniels, Nicholas K. Menzies. pt. 5. Fermentations and food science / by H.T. Huang. pt. 6. Medicine v. 7. Language and logic / by Christoph Harbsmeier. pt. 1-

Today Chinese cuisine is enjoyed in many parts of the world, yet little is known in the West about the technologies involved in making its characteristic ingredients. H. T. Huang's book is the first history of Chinese food technology in a Western language. It describes the conversion of agricultural commodities into food and drink, and explores the origins, development and scientific basis of traditional Chinese technology as applied to the processing of four food categories: the fermentation of alcoholic drinks from grains; the conversion of soybeans into soyfoods and condiments; the preservation of foods and the production of vegetable oils, malt sugar, starch, etc; and, lastly, the processing and utilization of tea. Where possible the Chinese experience is compared with equivalent systems in the West and elsewhere. The book ends with reflections on how nature, technology and human intervention have shaped the discovery and innovation of processed foods in traditional China.

In other parts of this series we have traced the origin and development of agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry in China.