"The world's preeminent authority on Chinese science explores the philosophy, social structure, arts, crafts, and even military strategies that form our understanding of Chinese science, making instructive comaprisons along the way to sililar elements in Indian, Hellenistic, and Arabic cultures. A major portion of the book concentrates on Taoist alchemy that led not only to the invention of gunpowder and firearms, but also, through the search for macrobiotic life-elixirs, to the rise of modern medical chemistry" -- from the back cover.

Science in Traditional China: A Comparative Perspective

Needham, Joseph

Harvard University Press, The Chinese University Press

1981

2007.066.400