The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention [Hardcover]

Robert K. G Temple (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1986 | ISBN-10: 0671620282 | ISBN-13: 978-0671620288 | Edition: 1St Edition

This title offers a captivating look at the unparalleled achievements of ancient China later adopted by the West. From the suspension bridge to the decimal system, China's contributions in engineering, medicine, maths, science, warfare, transportation and music helped inspire the West's agricultural and industrial revolutions. Based on the immense scholarship of the late Dr. Joseph Needham - the world's foremost sinologist - Robert Temple now captures the spirit and excitement of centuries of ingenuity in this highly accessible, lavishly illustrated volume.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Needham, the foremost Western historian of Chinese science, has written 15 volumes of his projected 25-volume Science and Civilisation in China series initiated in 1954. This immense, authoritative work has long needed distillation for the general reader, and British writer Temple impressively accomplishes the task here. Beautifully illustrated, the book describes some 5000 years of Chinese science, discovery and invention from agriculture, astronomy and engineering through industrial technology, medicine, math and music, up to, in an ironic closing chapter, the Chinese genius in warfare, including ancient Chinese usage of mustard gas, gunpowder and rockets. The book is an exhilarating celebration of historic achievements, the breadth of which will astonish the general reader. BOMC alternate; Macmillan Book Club selection.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

" . . . richly illustrative narrative utilizing facsimiles of historical script and beautifully done photography. . . . a rigorous, but pleasurable intellectual endeavor without the trappings of tedious academic script. Fully referenced and loaded with facts . . . " (
Robert Figler, Ph.D., Journal of Asian Martial Arts,
Vol. 17, No. 3 )

"These days, we Americans would do well to understand the Chinese as thoroughly as we can; this book is a good starting point in beginning to understand that before 'we discovered' the Orient, it was doing fine without us and our primitive technologies." (
Curled Up with a Good Book, Dec 2007 )

" . . . a must-have for history buffs and anyone who is interested in the rich and diverse contributions of ancient China to the modern world." (
Vision Magazine, Feb 2008 )

" . . . a top pick for any college-level collection strong in Chinese history and culture, offering a revised full-color edition that brings to life elements of ancient Chinese history." (
The Midwest Book Review, Mar 2008 ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster; 1St Edition edition (1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671620282
• ISBN-13: 978-0671620288
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #924,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chinese technology in a nutshell, May 28, 2001

By 

Deirdre A. Le Blanc "Artist/Writer" (WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA United States, FORMERLY LOS ANGELES, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention (Paperback)

There are both good and bad aspects of this book. First, it is an overall look at China's ancient technology. Not a bad idea. However, it is terse, and not very in-depth. I would recommend reading Sterling Seagrave's Lords of the Rim, which has added information regarding Needham's research - like the wonderful look at China's naval expertise and their huge ships that plied the seas (with room for horses and gardens), which Genius of China does not mention. Genius, however, is a great resource for folks who know nothing about China's ancient scientific discoveries, and is, therefore, an incentive to study further.

I disagree with one reviewer. I do not find Temple distainful of Western thought and scientific expertise. One has to remember the difficulties Europe was going through prior to and during the Renaissance and Reformation in regard to fighting for the freedom to study science openly - without the fear of inquisition. England, having divorced itself from Rome, was freer to read, experiment with, and discover the truths behind the Chinese knowledge - much of which was coming out of the Orient through the returning missionaries. Even though the Protestants abhorred the Jesuits, they were very interested in learning and using what the Jesuits had discovered while in China. Understanding a little more about Western history during this period illustrates why the West was "behind" the Chinese in their scientific endeavors. In addition, many of these European scientists made their own experiments derived from that knowledge and did not give credit to the Chinese.

In addition, Needham and Temple have cleared up some anomolies that appear in David Tame's The Secret Power of Music, by giving us a better understanding of how the tuned chung bells were used to regulate China's measurements. The pitched pipes in a hermetically sealed room turn out to be a "superstitius absurity or a long-standing case of fraud". The authors do not make any reference to Tame's "Yellow note".

For anyone who can't afford hundreds of dollars to buy all of Needham's volumes on this subject, I think Genius is a good place to start.

74 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Attractive but very odd and somewhat disappointing, October 30, 2000

By 

W. D ONEIL "Will O'Neil" (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention (Paperback)

This book is a compendium of interesting Chinese innovations in science and technology, scattered across several millennia of history, attractively illustrated and for the most part clearly described. There are no references to which one can turn for more information on specific topics. It's an antiquarian's book - - a bit in the spirit often seen among Chinese antiquarians, in fact.

What it is not, unfortunately, is a coherent history of the development of Chinese thought and practice in science and technology. Nor does it provide a well-founded account of how Chinese science and technology influenced and was influenced by other societies.

There is a brief but graceful and interesting introductory essay by the late Dr. Joseph Needham, FRS, the notable biologist who developed a great enthusiasm for Chinese scientific and technological history and authored a remarkable multi-volume survey, Science and Civilisation in China.

The author of the present work unfortunately repeats and greatly compounds the worst weaknesses of Needham's history, with exactly the opposite effect to that he intends. If he knows of no early European examples of a particular development (which often is simply because of gaps in his knowledge of the relevant history) then he automatically ascribes the eventual European development to diffusion from Chinese sources. This is "post hoc ergo propter hoc" run amok, and the logical fallacy is transparent even to those readers who know little of the historical facts. In many cases it is indeed likely that diffusion was important for European development, but by his summary treatment of the causal issue, the author will lead many to doubt it.

One sifnificant example shows what is at work here. Temple (on pp. 55) tells us rather breathlessly that the Chinese were using water power to operate blast furnace bellows by AD 31 -- a genuinely significant achievement worthy of note. Then he claims that European metallurgical use of water power did not come until the 12th century, when water powered hammer forges. Finally he jumps to the conclusion that the innovation traveled from China to Europe and was a major factor in the European Industrial Revolution.

The problem with this is that he simply has his facts altogether wrong with respect to Europe. Water power (for agricultural uses) dates probably to the 2nd or 3rd century BC in Europe. By the 1st century AD it was being used in mining and metallurgy, and by the 2nd century widely so. Thus water power appeared at least as early in Europe as in China, and perhaps a good deal earlier. Moreover, it was used far more widely for agricultural purposes, where Chinese techniques remained resolutely manpower-intensive up until very recently. (Indeed, Temple's book, with unconscious irony, shows many photos of human-powered machines in use in China during the modern era.)

This sort of distortion occurs repeatedly throughout the book -- it would be easy to document scores if not hundreds of instances.

(For books documenting Greek and Roman technological developments, search in Amazon for the following ISBNs: 041594189X, 0804748055, and 0801414393.)

Study of the history of Chinese innovation is extremely important at many levels for a clear understanding of the mechanisms of technological and social change. Unfortunately, this book does more to retard than to advance it.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The information is terrific, March 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention (Paperback)

Temple has really concisely summarized some of the best topics from Needham's mammoth work. He gets to the point, his explanations are clear and it is profusely illustrated (always a plus). Although of course we all know China was a gajillion years ahead technologically from the rest of the world, I was shocked to learn that they had a natural gas industry, had isolated phermones, and other astounding accomplishments.

The only reason I can't give this book 5stars is because of Temple's attitude. It's like he has not only to proev China's cool as his thesis, but also that Europe sucks. Yes, China's cool. Yes, Europeans were millenia behind. And I don't care that you note that. But do you have to lambaste them just cause they weren't so quick on that intellectual trigger. It's a mocking tone that didn't sit well with me.

By and by however, I grew used to Temple's constant degrading of Europe and grew just to laugh at it. Towards the end of the book he too lightens up and tells some jokes that are actually funny. One time though he may have gone to far. He mercilessly mocks the Chinese is the section on the first hermetically-sealed laboratory. If he hadn't been such a champion of the Chinese throughout, I might have been insulted for them.

Oh well.

It's a good book and definately worth the bucks. It may be paperback, but it's super high quality on sturdy, glossy paper.