{"product_id":"the-shorter-science-and-civilisation-in-china-volume-1","title":"The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 1","description":"\u003cp\u003eJoseph Needhams 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 Needhams 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\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946995675189,"sku":"ByrdShop_0521292867","price":42.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780521292863_6b6b1c10-4e28-42ea-ae49-7fd1e58ecc3c.jpg?v=1770210017","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-shorter-science-and-civilisation-in-china-volume-1","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}