Needham Research Research Articles

Joseph Needham's Research on Chinese Machines in the Cross-Cultural History of Science and Technology.

Using cross-cultural comparison, Joseph Needham composed a "connected history" of Chinese science and technology in global context, so that his Science and Civilisation in China (SCC) offered a refreshing view of science and technology to readers. In the SCC's subvolume on mechanical engineering (vol. 4, part 2), for example, the authors identified many inventions in premodern China, including the efficient harness, the gimbal, and the waterwheel linkwork escapement. Needham further tried to verify the possible origin and transregional dissemination (including stimulus diffusion) of such inventions as the astronomical clockwork and the interconversion of rotary and rectilinear motion in Eurasia. Although it was difficult to make satisfying arguments about the impact of Chinese knowledge on any European invention, Needham's methodologies, and even his enlightening speculations, are of real significance for present and future scholarship.

Joseph Needham's Research on the History of Science in China and Its Influence

Joseph Needham's Research on the History of Science in China and Its Influence

Notes on Contributors

Notes on Contributors

Between Biochemists and Embryologists – The Biochemical Study of Embryonic Induction in the 1930s

The discovery by Hans Spemann of the "organizer" tissue and its ability to induce the formation of the amphibian embryo's neural tube inspired leading embryologists to attempt to elucidate embryonic inductions' underlying mechanism. Joseph Needham, who during the 1930s conducted research in biochemical embryology, proposed that embryonic induction is mediated by a specific chemical entity embedded in the inducing tissue, surmising that chemical to be a hormone of sterol-like structure. Along with embryologist Conrad H. Waddington, they conducted research aimed at the isolation and functional characterization of the underlying agent. As historians clearly pointed out, embryologists came to question Needham's biochemical approach; he failed to locate the hormone he sought and eventually abandoned his quest. Yet, this study finds that the difficulties he ran into resulted primarily from the limited conditions for conducting his experiments at his institute. In addition, Needham's research reflected the interests of leading biochemists in hormone and cancer research, because it offered novel theoretical models and experimental methods for engaging with the function of the hormones and carcinogens they isolated. Needham and Waddington were deterred neither by the mounting challenges nor by the limited experimental infrastructure. Like their colleagues in hormone and cancer research, they anticipated difficulties in attempting to establish causal links between complex biological phenomena and simple chemical triggering.

Separating Processes in Object Perception

In this article, I consider research by Needham and colleagues examining the role of object knowledge on infant's segregation of scenes into objects. I suggest that research in this area would benefit from closer connections to computational, psychophysical, and neurophysiological research on adult perceptual segmentation and grouping. I sketch a framework for understanding the components of object perception and apply it to the paradigm and displays used by Needham. This analysis suggests two ideas. First, it would be valuable to demonstrate the role of object knowledge in cases that are less impoverished in terms of perceptual information for segregation and more typical of object arrangements in ordinary scenes. Second, some method is needed to distinguish whether infants' object knowledge affects perceptual organization of new scenes or produces specific beliefs, inferences, or expectations about particular objects and scenes. As a specific example of the benefits of connecting developmental and adult research, some recent research in adult perception is described. The research indicates that in adult object segregation, two types of processes may be distinguished: basic perceptual processes of object segregation and more cognitive processes involving recognition. I suggest that Needham's research may be revealing the developmental origins of the latter processes.

Why China Has No Science--An Interpretation of the History and Consequences of Chinese Philosophy

Next article FreeWhy China Has No Science--An Interpretation of the History and Consequences of Chinese PhilosophyYu-Lan FungYu-Lan Fung Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 32, Number 3Apr., 1922 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/intejethi.32.3.2377487 Views: 1390Total views on this site Citations: 14Citations are reported from Crossref Journal History This article was published in The International Journal of Ethics (1890-1938), which is continued by Ethics (1938-present). PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Zhen-Dong Wang, Yi-Meng Wang, Kang Li, Juan Shi, Feng-Yan Wang The comparison of the wisdom view in Chinese and Western cultures, Current Psychology 41, no.1111 (Jan 2021): 8032–8043.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01226-wZhen-Dong Wang, Yi-Meng Wang, Huan Guo, Qian Zhang Unity of heaven and humanity: Mediating role of the relational-interdependent self in the relationship between Confucian values and holistic thinking, Frontiers in Psychology 13 (Sep 2022).https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.958088Wenwei Luo, Ilene R. Berson, Michael J. Berson, Sophia Han Between the folds: Reconceptualizing the current state of early childhood technology development in China, Educational Philosophy and Theory 54, no.1010 (Jun 2021): 1655–1669.https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2021.1933945Mai P. Trinh, Elizabeth A. Castillo Practical wisdom as an adaptive algorithm for leadership: Integrating Eastern and Western perspectives to navigate complexity and uncertainty, Business Ethics: A European Review 29, no.S1S1 (Jun 2020): 45–64.https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12299Shellen Wu China: How science made a superpower, Nature 574, no.77767776 (Oct 2019): 25–28.https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02937-2Mohan Li, Richard Sharpley, Sean Gammon Towards an understanding of Chinese tourist photography: evidence from the UK, Current Issues in Tourism 22, no.55 (Sep 2017): 505–521.https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2017.1377690Michael R. Matthews Science, Westernization, and Feng Shui in Early Twentieth-Century China, (Jul 2019): 157–176.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18822-1_8Chengzhou He New Confucianism, Science and the Future of the Environment, European Review 26, no.22 (Mar 2018): 368–380.https://doi.org/10.1017/S1062798717000746Michael R. Matthews , ( 2018): 3.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62616-1_1Colin Mackerras Global History, the Role of Scientific Discovery and the ‘Needham Question’: Europe and China in the Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries, (Dec 2017): 21–35.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4053-5_2 Moon Kyu Yi Joseph Needham's Research on the History of Science in China and Its Influence, Human Beings, Environment and Their Future null, no.1919 (Oct 2017): 83–109.https://doi.org/10.34162/hefins.2017..19.004XIAOQING DIANA LIN Feng Youlan and Dialectical/Historical Materialism, 1930s–1950s, Modern Asian Studies 50, no.33 (Jul 2015): 1050–1091.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X14000626Wei Chen Religion and Science in China, (Mar 2016): 3714–3721.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7747-7_8842Nathan Sivin Why the scientific revolution did not take place in China — or did it?, The Environmentalist 5, no.11 (Mar 1985): 39–50.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02239866