In 'The China syndrome' Andrew leonard formulates the "The Needham Question":
"After an early and hugely successful career as a biochemist, capped off by being named a member of the ultra-prestigious Royal Society at the tender age of 41, Needham devoted the remainder of his life to, on the one hand, documenting how technologically far ahead China had been for millennia when compared to the West, and on the other hand, striving to understand why Europe suddenly jumped in front -- a monumental tectonic shift that dominates the reality of globalization to this day.
And wonders whether China stopped trying. "That, again, is "the Needham question," and the great irony is that despite the 24 volumes, 15,000 pages and 3 million words written by Needham and his collaborators and successors, we still don't have a satisfactory answer to that question." He and his readers suggest several reasons in the comments to that post andWhat's the matter with China?. Surprisingly, nobody mentions John Merson's 1988 book 'Roads to Xanadu' which considered the same question. It may have some thing to do with the fact that the book was published in Australia by not so known publishers. It is a highly readable and a relatively short book by a China specialist and his ananlysis seems quite persuasive. From the introduction:
"'Roads to Xanadu' explores why the full potential of scientific discovery and invention, now regarded as a source of weath and power, is not often realized in its country of origin. The reason, paradoxically, lies not in failure but in success- in the tendency of cultures and civilizations to ossify around those economic institutions and ideologies that, at some stage, provided maximum stability and wealth. These institutional structures are often retained by bureaucracies and the power elites who are their beneficiaries long after they have become redundant. Economic growth and cultural development do not stem merely from technological innovation but from social and political change. However, the motivation for such a change rarely comes from within. Often, it has been the competetive threat from outside that has forced societies to come up with new and innovative social, economic and political structures."
P.S. http://royalsociety.org/event.asp?id=7781 says that Professor Christopher Cullen, Director, Needham Research Institute, Cambridge will give a talk on the The Needham Question on June 12, 2008 in Library Quiet Room of The Royal society.
http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/mo2413sep.htm has suggestions about designing courses on The Needham Question.
http://www.indianscience.org/essays/2-%20NEEDHAMQuestion-DPSameer-edit.pdf discusses the question in the indian context and has a lot of references.
"After an early and hugely successful career as a biochemist, capped off by being named a member of the ultra-prestigious Royal Society at the tender age of 41, Needham devoted the remainder of his life to, on the one hand, documenting how technologically far ahead China had been for millennia when compared to the West, and on the other hand, striving to understand why Europe suddenly jumped in front -- a monumental tectonic shift that dominates the reality of globalization to this day.
And wonders whether China stopped trying. "That, again, is "the Needham question," and the great irony is that despite the 24 volumes, 15,000 pages and 3 million words written by Needham and his collaborators and successors, we still don't have a satisfactory answer to that question." He and his readers suggest several reasons in the comments to that post andWhat's the matter with China?. Surprisingly, nobody mentions John Merson's 1988 book 'Roads to Xanadu' which considered the same question. It may have some thing to do with the fact that the book was published in Australia by not so known publishers. It is a highly readable and a relatively short book by a China specialist and his ananlysis seems quite persuasive. From the introduction:
"'Roads to Xanadu' explores why the full potential of scientific discovery and invention, now regarded as a source of weath and power, is not often realized in its country of origin. The reason, paradoxically, lies not in failure but in success- in the tendency of cultures and civilizations to ossify around those economic institutions and ideologies that, at some stage, provided maximum stability and wealth. These institutional structures are often retained by bureaucracies and the power elites who are their beneficiaries long after they have become redundant. Economic growth and cultural development do not stem merely from technological innovation but from social and political change. However, the motivation for such a change rarely comes from within. Often, it has been the competetive threat from outside that has forced societies to come up with new and innovative social, economic and political structures."
P.S. http://royalsociety.org/event.asp?id=7781 says that Professor Christopher Cullen, Director, Needham Research Institute, Cambridge will give a talk on the The Needham Question on June 12, 2008 in Library Quiet Room of The Royal society.
http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/mo2413sep.htm has suggestions about designing courses on The Needham Question.
http://www.indianscience.org/essays/2-%20NEEDHAMQuestion-DPSameer-edit.pdf discusses the question in the indian context and has a lot of references.
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