Ancient Chinese Science
Chinese compass
In early and medieval China, as in the Roman Empire, scientists seem to have been interested mainly in engineering and practical inventions, and not so much in theoretical ideas about how the natural world worked. So Chinese scientists invented many useful things. About 450 BC, during the Warring States period, Chinese blacksmiths invented the crossbow. It was in Han Dynasty China, 100 BC to 100 AD, that paper was first invented, and about the same time the magnetic compass, for telling north from south, was also invented there. Scientists in China also invented gunpowder. In 132 AD, Han Dynasty scholars built the first seismograph to tell you what direction an earthquake was coming from. During the Three Kingdoms period, about 250 AD, Zhuge Kongming invented an early hot air balloon that people also used in war.
Chinese scholars also conducted scientific observations of plants and animals. This resulted in the discovery of the first effective treatment for malaria by Ge Hong in the 300s AD. Chinese astronomers also observed the stars and planets. The many detailed and careful drawings of flowers and other plants, and star charts, from China show this interest.
Why did people want to punch Socrates?
Where did Egyptians bury your liver?
How old are the Rocky Mountains?
What does a half-timbered house look like?
How do you spin wool?
(a project)
The influence of Confucius made China a place where logical thought was also highly valued. Mathematics was taught in the schools, through the use of a math textbook called the Nine Chapters, which may have been written as early as the Han Dynasty in the 200s AD (but nobody knows for sure).
By around 850 AD, under the Tang Dynasty, Chinese printers were experimenting with block printing, and around the year 1000 they invented moveable type.
To find out more about Chinese science, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
Science in Ancient China, by George Beshore (1998). For kids.
The Joy of Pi, by David Blatner (1999). It's not all about ancient China, but some of it is. For teenagers.
Ancient China: 2,000 Years of Mystery and Adventure to Unlock and Discover (Treasure Chest), by Chao-Hui Jenny Liu (1996). Lots of activities for kids, including a Chinese calligraphy set.
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, by Charles Seife and Matt Zimet (2000).
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