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PHD-DESIGN  January 2012

PHD-DESIGN January 2012

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Subject:

Re: Science in China [was] Galileo and the Church -- a Footnote

From:

Ken Friedman <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 07:40:17 +1100

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (86 lines)

Dear Francois,

Thanks for your reply. I’ve been following the evolving thread on
science in China with interest.

This note will address a modest yet significant point in your reply.
Your wrote about “the excellent documentation by Joseph Needham on
China and science.”

Needham was not a documentalist. If Needham had only been engaged in
documentation, he could have accomplished much of his work in a decade
or so, instead of the six decades he took.

Needham’s work comprised history, historiography, socio-cultural
analysis, and philosophy. That’s why the short 1981 book, Science in
Traditional China, provide answers to your questions if you don’t want
to read the massive volumes. This is where Needham offers comparisons
with Arabic, Hellenistic, and Indian cultures.

The difference between documentation and Needham’s work involves
analysis and interpretation. No interpretation can be correct in the
sense of a correct mathematical equation, but interpretation is the
essence of historiography, philosophy, and socio-cultural analysis with
respect to your questions. This is the difference between the blunt
facts recorded in documentation and understanding what facts mean.

In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, I spent a fair amount of time
working on knowledge economy questions. One issue that interested me was
the shift of geo-political power to Asia, first in Japan, then in China.
If I were to work on these issues today, I would pay a great deal more
attention to Korea, Singapore, and India.

The other day, I mentioned the fact that Chinese iron production
reached a level in the 11th century that the West would not attain until
the early stages of the 18th century Industrial Revolution. In the 15th
and 16th centuries, China was arguably the world’s largest, most
powerful and best-organized empire. 

In the 15th century, however, China began a great withdrawal from the
world comparable to -- but different in means and policies from --
Japan’s sakoku policy forbidding communication and commerce with
foreigners.

The implications are startling. Take the case of the clock. Prior to
the withdrawal, China had some of the best and most advanced clocks in
the world. Clocks, calendars, and timekeeping involved control of
cognitive authority and even of legitimate authority, so Chinese
emperors often neglected or destroyed the earlier advances in
timekeeping of previous reigns. The fate of the clock in China mirrors
the later technical and economic fate of China itself.

The mechanical clock was among the early forerunners of the computer. A
timing mechanism is the heart of every computer. Coupled with China’s
early leads in printing arts, communication, metallurgy, and
manufacturing, China’s early lead in mechanical timing devices could
have been nurtured into some form of the information technology on which
a computer might have been built. This would involve preserving and
developing early contributions to science and technology rather than
losing them – even in cases where trade took Chinese inventions to
other parts of the world while they were forgotten in China.

It is a documented fact that China had a lead in timekeeping
technology. What led to this fact, what followed from it, and how China
responded to these issues involves more than documents.

Some of these issues involve speculation and reflection. Despite having
the resources that might have led to a computer, nothing guarantees the
evolution of the computer. A few years back, someone built a working
computing engine built on Charles Babbage’s model using the resources
and technology available to Babbage. This dispelled the myth that
Babbage could not have done so himself. Nevertheless, he did not
complete his computing engine. Attempting to understand why – while
showing that it could have been done – involves forms of inquiry and
research that go beyond documentation. 

Much of Needham’s work involves similar questions.

Best regards,

Ken

Professor Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | University Distinguished
Professor | Dean, Faculty of Design | Swinburne University of Technology
| Melbourne, Australia | [log in to unmask] | Ph: +61 3 9214 6078 |
Faculty www.swinburne.edu.au/design

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