Monday
May202013
AGM & Thinking at Twilight, May 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013 at 9:44PM
Cambridge alumni enjoyed Drinks & Canapes with fellow alumni & heard Bill Potter, discuss "The Needham Question: Why was Newton an Englishman and not Chinese".
From Simon Winchester's book Bomb, Book and Compass the following question arises from Joseph Needham's work: given that China was more than three hundred years ahead of the West in the development of technology, why did the scientific revolution not take place in China rather than the west? Put more succinctly, why was Newton an Englishman and not Chinese? This has become known as The Needham Question. Bill Potter explained his theories and his handout enlighted us as to the extent of Chinese invention - air-con fan, callipers, crop rotation, folding chairs & toilet paper to name a few!
From Simon Winchester's book Bomb, Book and Compass the following question arises from Joseph Needham's work: given that China was more than three hundred years ahead of the West in the development of technology, why did the scientific revolution not take place in China rather than the west? Put more succinctly, why was Newton an Englishman and not Chinese? This has become known as The Needham Question. Bill Potter explained his theories and his handout enlighted us as to the extent of Chinese invention - air-con fan, callipers, crop rotation, folding chairs & toilet paper to name a few!
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