CHINESE SCIENCE, DISCOVERIES, AND INVENTIONS14 Century BC to 17 Century AD
Adapted by James W. Revak from Robert
Temple ’s The Genius of: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention. China
All dates are conservatively approximated. When the discoverer or inventor is certain or highly probable, his name follows the description enclosed in separate parentheses.
14 Century BC
Mathematics
Decimal system (a number place system based on 10, which is much easier for calculating than, e.g., Roman or Greek numbers, and in common use to this day).
13 Century BC
Manufacturing
Lacquer (the “first plastic”, a material with exceptional powers of preservation, strength, and durability, and many applications).
11 Century BC
Astronomy
Circumpolar constellation template (a circular observational instrument held at arm’s length).
Brewing
Strong beer (a beverage with significantly higher alcohol content than regular beer, e.g., Chinese chiu and Japanese sake).
6 Century BC
Acoustics/Music
Large tuned bells.
Agriculture
Row cultivation (for increased agricultural output).
Intensive hoeing (for increased agricultural output).
Iron plowshare (which is more durable, efficient, and easier to use than prior wood plowshares).
5 Century BC
Acoustical Engineering
“Spouting bowl” (which generates standing waves when rubbed and causes water in it to spout upward).
Agriculture
Iron hoe (which has a significantly longer life than prior hoes).
Geology/Botany
Geobotanical prospecting (using the knowledge that certain plants grow near deposits of certain minerals to locate said deposits).
4 Century BC
Agriculture
Frame-plow (a plow with a special frame, including an adjustable strut, for better controlled and more efficient plowing).
Kuan plowshare (a more efficient plowshare of improved iron ending in a sharp point).
Plow moldboard (which efficiently guides plowed-up earth to the side).
Agriculture/Transportation
Trace horse harness (for more efficient pulling of carts, etc.).
Aeronautics
Kite (eventually used for various purposes, including entertainment, military communication, and, by the 6 century AD, human flight).
Astronomy
Recognition of sunspots as solar phenomena (Kan Te).
Energy
Petroleum used as a fuel.
Natural gas used as a fuel.
Industrial Engineering
“Permanent” asbestos lamp wicks (possibly as early as the 6 century BC).
Mathematics
Specifying a place for zero (for significantly easier calculating).
Manufacturing
Cast iron (for producing durable, more efficient tools and industrial products).
Mechanical Engineering
Double-acting piston bellows (which pumps air or fluids and expells them in a continuous stream).
Physics
“
’s” First Law of Motion (the observation that cessation of motion is due to opposing force). Newton Physics/Scientific Instrumentation
Magnetic compass (an instrument which indicates the direction of South, used for navigation at sea by the 11 century AD; however, what may have been a compass dating to the 11 century BC has been excavated in Mexico).
Warfare
Crossbow as a military weapon (which is more effective than the prior longbow thanks to its greater range and power).
Poison gas (e.g., smoke from burning dried mustard).
3 Century BC
Cartography
Relief maps (three-dimensional maps that model terrain).
Civil Engineering/Transportation
Contour transport canal (one designed to exploit the contour of the land as a way round or over hills) (Shih Lu).
Manufacturing
Annealing (holding cast iron at high temperature for an extended period to make it malleable or less brittle).
Mechanical Engineering/Entertainment
Magic lantern or zoetrope (a device that uses a series of pictures through which light shines in succession to create the illusion of movement in a projected image, an early ancestor of the slide projector and cinema).
Medicine
Recognition of deficiency diseases (i.e., those due to poor diet) and dietary treatment of them (Chang Chi).
Physics/Scientific Instrumentation
Dial and needle magnetic compass.
Scientific Instrumentation
Dial and needle instruments (e.g., the dial and needle compass).
2 Century BC
Acoustics/Music
Tuned drum (one that produces a specific pitch).
Aeronautics
Parachute.
Aeronautics/Entertainment
Miniature hot-air balloon.
Agriculture
Multi-tube or “modern” seed drill (for sewing more efficiently and less wastefully than prior broadcast sewing).
Rotary winnowing fan (for efficiently separating chaff from grain).
Cartography
Quantitative cartography (using numbered grids to make maps) (Chang Heng).
Chemistry
Hexagonal structure of snowflakes.
Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) (for dissolving otherwise indissoluble minerals; possibly as early as the 4 century BC).
Entertainment
Fireworks (initially without gunpowder; only later, with gunpowder [the latter invented by the 9 century AD]).
Manufacturing
Paper (initially a relatively sturdy material used for clothing, etc.; later, by the 1 century AD, a relatively light material used for writing, etc.).
Decarburization (removing carbon from cast iron to produce steel).
Saltpeter (for dissolving ores and use as a flux, i.e., a substance to promote the fusing of metals in a furnace).
Mathematics
Negative numbers (e.g., –1, –2, etc., which are essential to advanced mathematics, including algebra).
Mechanical Engineering
Crank handle (a rod used to turn an attached wheel).
Gimbal or “Cardan” suspension (two interlocking rings such that an object suspended in them remains horizontal regardless any motion of its support, used for mounting modern gyroscopes).
Medicine
Recognition of the circulation of blood.
Discovery of circadian rhythms or biorhythms (the body’s natural clocks).
Isolation of pituitary hormones (from human urine for therapeutic use).
Isolation of sex hormones (from human urine for therapeutic use).
1 Century BC
Agriculture
Swan-neck hoe (an improved tool with interchangeable blades for weeding round plants without damaging their roots).
Agriculture/Transportation
Collar horse harness (for more efficient pulling of carts, etc.).
Astronomy
Permanently mounted equatorial armillary ring (an early ancestor of the “modern” equatorial mount, i.e., a mount aligned with the celestial pole, commonly used with telescopes and other observational instruments to this day) (Keng Shou-Ch’ang).
Mathematics
Decimal fractions (e.g., .123, which are sometimes easier to use than ordinary fractions, e.g., 1/2) (Liu Hsin).
Extraction of cube roots (calculating x, given that x3 = y; essential to higher mathematics, including algebra).
Mechanical Engineering
Belt-drive or driving-belt (a continuous belt that transfers circular motion from one wheel to another).
Deep drilling (up to 4,800 feet for natural gas, petroleum, and brine).
Hermetically sealed research laboratory (i.e., one meticulously protected from unwanted external influences or contamination).
Sliding calipers (a measuring instrument).
Mechanical Engineering/Transportation
Wheelbarrow (a wheeled vehicle for efficient, relatively easy hauling of comparatively heavy loads, usually by one person) (Ko Yu[?]).
1 Century AD
Civil Engineering
Suspension bridge (one with a walkway or road suspended from cables or ropes).
Manufacturing
Writing paper.
Mechanical Engineering
Chain pump (one with buckets or pallets arranged on a continuous, moving loop, frequently used for irrigation).
Mechanical Engineering/Energy
Water power for operating mechanical equipment (specifically a blast furnace bellows) (Tu Shih).
Naval Engineering/Transportation
Ship rudder (for efficient steering).
Warfare
Crossbow grid-sight (for improved aiming).
2 Century AD
Astronomy/Scientific Instrumentation
Non-observational rotating armillary sphere (for indicating current positions of heavenly bodies; powered by a clepsydra or water-clock) (Chang Heng).
Chemistry
Purification of sulfur (an ingredient essential to gunpowder [the latter invented by the 4 century]).
Recognition of spontaneous combustion (burning caused by chemical changes inside something).
Geology
Recognition of selected aspects of “modern” geology (e.g., origins of sedimentary rock and dynamic nature of the earth’s crust).
Geology/Scientific Instrumentation
Seismograph (an instrument for detecting the occurrence and direction of the source of earthquakes) (Chang Heng).
Mechanical Engineering/Manufacturing
Quilling machine (for efficiently winding silk fiber).
Naval Engineering/ Transportation
Transverse bulkhead for ships (an upright partition that traverses a hull, which helps to make possible watertight compartments and multiple masts; possibly invented much earlier).
Watertight compartments for ships (enabling them to sustain significant damage below water level without sinking).
Transportation
For-and-aft rigs with lug sails (for sailing into the wind; the lug sail is the ancestor of the gaff sail).
Warfare
Tear gas (utilizing powdered lime).
3 Century AD
Agriculture
Biological pest control (using one kind of living organism to eliminate another which is harmful to crops).
Chemistry
Potassium flame test (for identifying saltpeter, an ingredient essential to gunpowder [the latter invented by the 9 century]).
Mechanical Engineering
Cybernetic or homoestatic machine (specifically, the “south-pointing carriage”, which includes a mechanically [not magnetically] controlled indicator that always points South) (Ma Chün).
Fishing reel (for easier, more convenient fishing).
Manufacturing
Porcelain (a hard, white, glazed translucent ceramic; depending on one’s precise definition of porcelain, possibly invented earlier).
Mathematics
Algebra applied to geometry (e.g., using algebraic equations to describe geometric figures).
Refined value of pi (calculated to five decimal places: 3.14159).
Transportation/Warfare
Stirrup (for efficient horse riding and cavalry warfare, also used for arming crossbows by the 9 century).
4 Century AD
Mechanical Engineering
Umbrella (for protection from sun and rain).
5 Century AD
Manufacturing
Co-fusion or “Siemens” process (for producing steal by melting cast iron with wrought iron).
“Magic mirror” (a solid bronze mirror through which light may apparently pass).
Mathematics
Advanced value of pi (calculated to ten decimal places: 3.1415929203) (Tsu Ch’ung-Chih and Tsu Keng-Chih).
Mechanical Engineering
Crank-activated piston (which is similar to components essential to the modern steam engine).
Transportation/Warfare
Paddle-wheel boat (construction of a boat propelled by one or more paddle wheels for improved speed, maneuverability, and freedom from reliance on wind, sometimes used in warfare; however, the idea appeared independently in a prior European manuscript [dated to the late 4 century]).
6 Century AD
Aeronautics
Human flight with kites (possibly as early as the 4 century BC).
Chemical Engineering
Match (for quick, convenient creation of fire).
Entertainment
“Image-chess” (the early ancestor of modern chess).
Manufacturing
Toilet paper.
Transportation
Land sailing (using wind and one or more sails to propel a wheeled vehicle).
7 Century AD
Astronomy
Discovery of the solar wind (the outward physical force exerted by the sun).
Civil Engineering
Segmental arch bridge (a bridge constructed of one or more arches each of which outlines not a semi-circle but a smaller segment thereof) (Li Ch’un).
Distilling
Brandy (an alcoholic beverage prepared by distilling wine).
Whisky (an alcoholic beverage prepared by distilling liquid produced from fermented grain).
Medicine
Recognition of excess sugar in the urine of diabetics (Chen Ch’üan)
Using thyroid hormone to treat goiter (a disease of the thyroid) (Chen Ch’üan).
Printing
Woodblock printing on silk.
8 Century AD
Mechanical Engineering/Scientific Instrumentation
Mechanical clock (for indicating both time and positions of heavenly bodies) (I-Hsing).
Naval Engineering/Transportation
Leeboard (a board lowered from a ship into water to sail more efficiently into the wind by preventing leeward drift).
Printing
Text printing (however not book printing, which begins in the following 9 century).
9 Century AD
Chemical Engineering
Gunpowder (first used in fireworks and, by the 10 century, artillery and bombs).
Commerce/Economy
Bank draft (which is more convenient than coins or ingots and facilitates commerce by enabling merchants to deposit coins or ingots at one bank in return for a certificate which may be redeemed at another for coins or ingots).
Aeronautics/Entertainment
Helicopter top (initially used in flying toys).
Physics/Geology
Magnetic variation or declination (the difference between truth north and magnetic north).
Printing
Book printing (for eventual publication of an enormous number of relatively inexpensive books; it revolutionized education and dramatically improved the diffusion of knowledge).
Printing/Entertainment
Playing cards.
Warfare
Paper armor (which protected the wearer from arrows).
10 Century AD
Civil Engineering/Transportation
Canal pound-lock (for improved, safer navigation of canals regardless changing water levels) (Ch’iao Wei-Yo).
Commerce/Economy
Paper money backed by deposited cash (which facilitates commerce by enabling businesses and individuals to dispense with coins and ingots which are difficult to store and transport in large quantities).
Warfare
Gunpowder-impregnated slow match fuse (as the source of fire in flame-throwers).
Flame-thrower (a weapon which produces a constant and destructive stream of burning gasoline or kerosene).
Gunpowder incendiary arrow (which ignites a fire upon hitting its target).
Fire-lance or proto-gun (a military weapon which utilizes gunpowder and acts as a portable, potentially lethal flame-thrower of relatively brief duration).
11 Century AD
Mechanical Engineering/Scientific Instrumentation
Improved mechanical clock (for indicating time and positions of the heavenly bodies with greater accuracy thanks in part to its superior mechanical escapement) (Su Sung).
Naval Engineering
Underwater salvage operations (e.g., raising large sunken objects) (Huai-Ping).
Navigation
Magnetic compass used for navigation at sea (possibly as early as the 9 century).
Physics
Discovery of magnetic remanence (observing that magnets demagnetize when heated).
Discovery of magnetic induction (observing that iron magnetizes when heated and then cooled while aligned in a magnetic field).
Printing
Multi-color printing.
Movable type (which is assembled piece by piece in a form or frame from which one may print pages) (Pi Sheng).
Warfare
Gunpowder incendiary bomb (which does not explode but does ignite fires).
Gunpowder exploding bomb (enclosed in a soft shell, e.g., bamboo).
Crossbow stirrup (for more efficient arming).
10 Century AD
Cartography
Cylindrical or “Mercator” map-projection (which is in common use to this day).
Chemical Engineering
Phosphorescent paint (which glows in the dark).
Mechanical Engineering
Chain-drive (a continuous loop of chain that transmits circular motion from one gear to another, first used in a mechanical clock) (Chang Ssu-Hsun).
Water-cooled “economic” lamp (which conserves fuel by slowing its evaporation).
Medicine
Small pox vaccination (preventing untold numbers of deaths).
11 Century AD
Cartography/Astronomy
Published star map (in New Design for a Mechanized Armillary Sphere and Celestial Globe) (Su Sung).
Mathematics
“Pascal’s” Triangle (a special triangular arrangement of numbers which may be used to solve certain algebraic problems) (Liu Ju-Hsieh).
Mechanical Engineering/Manufacturing
Spinning-wheel (for producing thread from fibers; possibly much earlier).
12 Century AD
Aeronautics
Application of the “Venturi-tube effect” (constricting the opening of a rocket tube to increase power).
Aeronautics/Entertainment
Rocket (initially used in fireworks, but, later, beginning in the 13 century, warfare).
Chemistry
Heated quartz test (for identifying saltpeter, an ingredient essential to gunpowder [the latter invented in the 9 century]).
Warfare
Repeating or “machine-gun” crossbow (for rapid, nonstop firing).
Gunpowder grenade (a small explosive which may be hurled by hand at the enemy).
13 Century AD
Acoustics/Music
Equal temperament tuning of musical instruments (which enables one to play them in any key) (Chu Tsai-Yü).
Astronomy
Equatorial mounted torquetum (the equatorial or “modern” mount, which is aligned with the celestial pole, was commonly used with observational instruments, including the torquetum, and is commonly used with telescopes to this day) (Kuo Shou-Ching).
Mathematics
Use of numerical equations of higher degrees than third (those with such values as x4, x5, etc.; essential to higher mathematics) (Ch’in Chiu-Shao).
Warfare
Handgun (which eventually revolutionized warfare).
Land mine (a bomb which is triggered when someone walks on or near it).
“Modern” metal-enclosed gunpowder bomb (which, because it produces shrapnel, is more destructive and deadly than earlier bombs).
Rocket (used as a military weapon).
Sea mine (a bomb which attaches to an enemy’s ship).
Signal flare (for communication).
14 Century AD
Aeronautics/Warfare
In-flight stabilizers for rockets (fins or wings that improve performance).
Multi-stage rocket (which may have a greater range than a single-stage rocket).
Warfare
Canon (which eventually revolutionized warfare; possibly invented in the 13 century).
17 Century AD
Aeronautics/Mechanical Engineering
Vertically mounted wind wheels (the basis of modern airplane propellers).