Bomb, Book & Compass: Joseph Needham & the Great Secrets of China

  Crop rotation 6th century BC

  Crossbow 5th century BC

  Crossbow, bronze triggers 300 BC

  Crossbow, grid sight for 1st century AD

  Crossbow, magazine 13th century AD

  Dating of trees by number of rings 12th century AD

  Decimal place value 13th century BC

  Deep drilling and use of natural gas as fuel 2nd century BC

  Diabetes, association with sweet and fatty foods 1st century BC

  Dial and pointer 3rd century AD

  Differential pressure

  Diked/poldered fields 1st century BC

  Disease, diurnal rhythms in 2nd century BC

  Diseases, deficiency 3rd century AD

  Dishing of carriage wheel

  Distillation, of mercury 3rd century BC

  Dominoes AD 1120

  Down-draught 1st century BC

  Dragon kiln 2nd century AD

  Draw loom 1st century AD

  Drum carriage 110 BC

  Ephedrine 2nd century AD

  Equal temperament, mathematical formulation of AD 1584

  Equilibrium, theory of 4th century BC

  Erosion and sedimentary deposition, knowledge of AD 1070

  Esculentist movement (edible plants for time of famine) AD 1406

  Ever-normal granary system AD 9

  Fertilizers 2nd century BC

  Firecrackers AD 290

  Firelance AD 950

  Flame test

  Flamethrower (double-acting force pump for liquids) AD 919

  Folding chairs 3rd century AD

  Free reed 1000 BC

  Fumigation 7th century BC

  Furnace, reverberatory 1st century BC

  Gabions 3rd century BC

  Gauges, rain and snow AD 1247

  Gear wheels, chevron-toothed AD 50

  Ginning machine, hand-cranked, and treadle 17th century AD

  Gluten from wheat AD 530

  Gold, purple sheen 200 BC

  Grafting AD 806

  Gravimetry AD 712

  Great Wall of China 3rd century BC

  Grid technique, quantitative, used in cartography AD 130

  Guan xien system 240 BC

  Gunpowder, firecracker and fireworks 12th century AD

  Gunpowder, formula for 9th century AD

  Gunpowder, government’s department and monopoly on 14th century AD

  Gunpowder, used in mining Ming

  Handcarts 681 BC

  Handgun AD 1128

  Harness, breast strap 250 BC

  Harness, collar AD 477

  Helicopter top AD 320

  High temperatures, firing of clay at 2nd millennium BC

  Hodometer 110 BC

  Holing-irons AD 584

  ‘Hot streak’ test AD 1596

  Hygrometer 120 BC

  Indeterminate analysis 4th century AD

  Interconversion of longitudinal and rotary motion AD 31

  Kite 4th century BC

  Knife, rotary disk, for cutting jade 12th century AD

  Lacquer 13th century BC

  Ladders, extendable 4th century BC

  Leeboards and centreboards AD 751

  Lodestone, south-pointing ladle AD 83

  Magic mirrors 5th century AD

  Magic squares AD 190

  Magnetic declination noted AD 1040

  Magnetic thermoremanence and induction AD 1044

  Magnetic variation observed AD 1436

  Magnetism, used in medicine AD 970

  Malt sugar, production of 1st millennium BC

  Mangonel 4th century BC

  Maps, relief AD 1086

  Maps, topographical 3rd century BC

  Masts, multiple 3rd century AD

  Matches (non-striking) AD 577

  Melodic composition AD 475

  Metal amalgams used to fill cavities AD 659

  Metals, to oxides, burning of 5th century BC

  Metals, densities of 3rd century AD

  Mill, wagon AD 340

  Mills, edge-runner 200 BC

  Mills, edge-runner, water-power applied 4th century AD

  Mining, differential pressure ventilation 5th century BC

  Mining, square sets for 5th century BC

  Mirror with ‘light penetration surface’ 11th century BC

  Mould board 2nd century BC

  Mountings, vertical and horizontal 1st century AD

  Mouth-organs 9th century BC

  Moxibustion 3rd century BC

  Multiple-spindle silk-twisting frame AD 1313

  Negative numbers, operations using 1st century AD

  Noodles (filamentous) including bread AD 100

  Nova, recorded observation of 13th century BC

  Numerical equations of higher order, solution of 13th century AD

  Oil lamps, economic 9th century AD

  Paktong (cupronickel) AD 230

  Paper (invention of ) 300 BC

  Paper, money 9th century AD

  Paper, toilet AD 589

  Paper, wall 16th century AD

  Paper, wrapping 2nd century BC

  Parachute principle 8th century AD

  ‘Pascal’ triangle of binomial coefficients AD 1100

  Pasteurization of wine AD 1117

  Pearl-fishing conservancy 2nd century AD

  Pearls in oysters, artificial induction of AD 1086

  ‘Pi’, accurate estimation of 3rd century AD

  Piece moulding for casting bronze 2nd millenium BC

  Place-value number system 13th century BC

  Placenta used as source of oestrogen AD 725

  Planispheres AD 940

  Plant protection, biological AD 304

  Planting in rows 3rd century BC

  Playing cards AD 969

  Polar-equatorial coordinates 1st century BC

  Polar-equatorial mounting of astronomical instruments AD 1270

  Porcelain 3rd century BC

  Potassium, flame-test used in identifying 3rd century AD

  Pound-lock canal gates AD 984

  Preservation of corpses 166 BC

  Printing, bronze type AD 1403

  Printing, movable earthenware type on paper 11th century AD

  Printing, multicolour 12th century AD

  Printing, with wood-blocks 7th century AD

  Propeller oar, self-feathering AD 100

  Prospecting, biogeochemical 6th century AD

  Prospecting, geological 4th century BC

  Qin and se zither

  Recording of sun halves, parhelic spectres, and Lowitz arcs AD 635

  Reel on fishing rod 3rd century AD

  Refraction 4th century BC

  Rocket arrow 13th century AD

  Rocket arrow launchers AD 1367

  Rocket arrows, winged AD 1360

  Rockets, two-stage AD 1360

  Roller-harrows AD 880

  Rotary ballista ad 240

  Rotary fan 1st century BC

  Sailing carriage 16th century AD

  Sails, mat-and-batten 1st century AD

  Salvage, underwater AD 1064

  Seawalls AD 80

  Seed, pretreatment of 1st century BC

  Seed drill, multiple-tube AD 155

  ‘Seedling horse’ 11th century AD

  Seismograph AD 132

  Ships, construction principle of 1st century BC

  Ships, paddle-wheel 5th century AD

  Silk, earliest spinning of 2850 BC

  Silk reeling machine AD 1090

  Silk warp doubling and throwing frame 10th century AD

  Sluices 3rd century BC

  Sluices, riffles AD ded to 11th century AD

  Smallpox, inoculation against 10th century AD

  Smokescreens AD 178

  Snow crystals, six-sided symmetry of 135 BC

  Soil science (ecology) 5th century BC

  South-pointing carriage AD 120

  Soybean, fermented 200 BC

  Spindle wheel 5th century BC

 
Spindle wheel, multiple spindle 11th century AD

  Spindle wheel, treadle-operated 1st century AD

  Spooling frame AD 1313

  Sprouts, for medicinal and nutritional purposes 2nd century BC

  Square-pallet chain pump AD 186

  Stalactites and stalagmites, records of 4th century BC

  Stars, proper motion of AD 725

  Steamers, pottery 5th millennium BC

  Steel production, cofusion method of 6th century AD

  Sterilization by steaming AD 980

  Steroids, urinary AD 1025

  Still, Chinese-type 7th century AD

  Stirrup AD 300

  Stringed instruments 9th century BC

  Tea, as drink 2nd century BC

  Thyroid treatment 1st century BC

  Tian yuan algebraic notation AD 1248

  Tilt-hammer, water-powered spoon AD 1145

  Toothbrush 9th century AD

  Trebuchet (simple) 4th century BC

  Trip hammers 2nd century BC

  Trip hammers, water-powered AD 20

  Vinegar 2nd century BC

  Water mills, geared 3rd century AD

  Waterwheel, horizontal AD 31

  Weather vane 120 BC

  Wet copper method 11th century AD

  Wheelbarrow, centrally mounted 30 BC

  Wheelbarrow, with sails 6th century AD

  Windlass, well 120 BC

  Windows, revolving 5th century BC

  Winnowing machine 1st century BC

  Wu tong black palatinated copper 15th century AD

  Zoetrope AD 180

  Appendix II: States, Kingdoms, and Dynasties of China

  Principal unified states in capitals.

  Xia Kingdom 2000–1520 BC

  Shang Kingdom 1520–1027 BC

  Western Zhou 1027–771 BC

  Eastern Zhou 771–221 BC

  FIRST UNIFICATION QIN 221–207 BC

  WESTERN HAN 206 bcAD 9

  Xin interregnum AD 925

  EASTERN HAN AD 25220

  First partition Three Kingdoms AD 220–265

  SECOND UNIFICATION WESTERN JIN AD 265–316

  EASTERN JIN AD 317–420

  Second partitio Southern Song AD 420–478

  Southern Qi AD 479–501

  Southern Liang AD 502–556

  Southern Chen AD 557–588

  Northern Wei AD 386–553

  Eastern Wei AD 534–549

  Western Wei AD 535–557

  Northern Qi AD 550–577

  Northern Zhou AD 557–588

  THIRD UNIFICATION SUI AD 580–618

  TANG AD 618–907

  Third partition Five Dynasties AD 907–960

  Ten Kingdoms AD 907–979

  FOURTH UNIFICATION SONG AD 960–1279

  LIAO AD 916–1125

  WESTERN XIA AD 1038–1227

  JIN (Tartar) AD 1115–1234

  YUAN (Mongol) AD 1279–1368

  MING AD 1368–1644

  QING AD 1644–1911

  REPUBLIC OF CHINA AD 1911–1949

  PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC AD 1949–PRESENT

  Suggested Further Reading

  The bulk of Joseph Needham’s personal papers are held at the University Library, Cambridge, where all have been catalogued and most are available for inspection. A few personal files remain closed at the discretion of the librarian until 2045 A small number of documents relating specifically to college business are held in the archives of Gonville and Caius College. Documents relating to Needham’s involvement in the Korean War are held in the library of the Imperial War Museum, London. Papers relating to the creation of the series Science and Civilisation in China are held at the Needham Research Institute, Cambridge. Cataloguing was completed in July 2007 Dorothy Needham’s personal papers are held by Girton College, Cambridge.

  Beaton, Cecil. Far East. London: Batsford, 1945.

  Bergsten, C. Fred, et al. China: The Balance Sheet. What the World Needs to Know Now about the Emerging Superpower. Center for Strategic and International Studies and Institute for International Economics. New York: PublicAffairs, 2006

  Brady, Anne-Marie. Friend of China: The Myth of Rewi Alley. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003

  Brady, Anne-Marie.Making the Foreign Serve China: Managing Foreigners in the People’s Republic. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003

  Brooke, Christopher N. L. A History of the University of Cambridge. Vol. IV: 1870–1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

  Broomhall, A. J. Strong Tower. London: China Inland Mission, 1947.

  Brunero, Donna. Britain’s Imperial Cornerstone in China: The Chinese Maritime Customs Service, 1854–1949. London: Routledge, 2006.

  Bukharin, N. I., et al. Science at the Crossroads: Papers from the Second International Congress of the History of Science and Technology, 1931. Foreword, Joseph Needham. London: Frank Cass, 1971

  The Caian: The Annual Record of the Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, 1 October 2003–30 September 2004. Cambridge: Gonville and Caius College, 2004

  Chambers, James. The Devil’s Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1979

  Ch’ang Chiang Pilot, 3rd ed. London: Royal Navy Hydrographic Department, 1954

  Chang, Gordon G. Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World. New York: Random House, 2006

  Chang, Iris. Thread of the Silkworm. New York: Basic Books, 1995.

  Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. New York: Basic Books, 1997

  Chang, Jung. Qian Zhongshu: Fortress Besieged. London: Penguin, 1979.

  Chang, Jung, and Jon Halliday. Mao: The Unknown Story. New York: Knopf, 2005

  Chang, Raymond, and Margaret Scrogin Chang. Speaking of Chinese: A Cultural History of the Chinese Language. New York: Norton, 1978

  Chen, Guidi, and Wu Chuntao. Will the Boat Sink the Water? The Life of China’s Peasants. New York: PublicAffairs, 2006

  Cheng, Pei-kai, et al. The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection. New York: Norton, 1999

  Chow, Tse-tung. The May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1960

  Clegg, Arthur. Aid China 1937–1949: A Memoir of a Forgotten Campaign. Beijing: New World, 1989

  Collis, Maurice. Foreign Mud: An Account of the Opium War.

  London: Faber and Faber, 1946

  Collis, Maurice. The Great Within. Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries, 1970

  Colquhoun, Archibald R. China in Transformation. New York: Harper, 1898

  Cronin, Vincent. The Wise Man from the West. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1955.

  Crow, Carl. Handbook for China. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1984

  Cullen, Christopher. The Dragon’s Ascent: The Civilisation the World Forgot. Hong Kong: PCCW IMS, 2001

  Dalley, Jan. The Black Hole: Money, Myth, and Empire. London: Penguin, 2006

  Dawson, Raymond. The History of Human Society: Imperial China, ed. J. H. Plumb. London: Hutchinson, 1972

  Dyer Ball, J. Things Chinese. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1982.

  Elcoat, Geoffrey. A Brief History of the Vicars of Thaxted. Thaxted, Essex: Elcoat, 1999

  Elvin, Mark. The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004

  Endicott, Stephen, and Edward Hagerman. The United States and Biological Warfare: Secrets from the Early Cold War and Korea. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998

  Epstein, Israel. From Opium War to Liberation. Peking: New World, 1956.

  Fairbank, John K., and Denis Twitchett, eds. The Cambridge History of China, 15 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986—.

  Fei, Hsiao-tung. China’s Gentry: Essays on RuralUrban Relations, ed. Margaret Park Redfield. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1953

  Feifer, George. Breaking Open Japan: Commodore Perry, Lord Abe, and American Imperialism in 1853. New York: Smithso
nian Books and HarperCollins, 2006

  Fenby, Jonathan. Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China He Lost. London: Free Press, 2003

  Feuerwerker, Albert. China’s Early Industrialization: Sheng Hsuan-huai (18441916) and Mandarin Enterprise. New York: Atheneum, 1970 (1958).

  Fleming, Peter. The Siege at Peking. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1959.

  Friedel, Robert. A Culture of Improvement: Technology and the Western Millennium. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007

  Garrett, Martin. Cambridge: A Cultural and Literary History. Oxford: Signal, 2004

  Girardot, Norman J. The Victorian Translation of China: James Legge’s Oriental Pilgrimage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

  Goldsmith, Maurice. Joseph Needham: Twentieth-Century Renaissance Man. Paris: UNESCO, 1995

  Goullart, Peter. Princes of the Black Bone: Life in the Tibetan Borderland. London: John Murray, 1959

  Gribbin, John. History of Western Science, 1543–2001. London: Folio Society, 2006

  Guest, Captain Freddie. Escape from the Bloodied Sun. London: Jarrolds, 1956

  Habib, S. Irfan, and Dhruv Raina. Situating the History of Science: Dialogues with Joseph Needham. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999

  Hahn, Emily. China to Me. Boston, MA: Beacon, 1944

  Han, Suyin. Destination Chungking. London: Mayflower, 1969

  Harman, Peter, and Simon Mitton, eds. Cambridge Scientific Minds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002

  Herzog, Maurice. Annapurna: Conquest of the First 8000-Metre Peak. London: Jonathan Cape and Book Society, 1952

  Hibbard, Peter. The Bund: Shanghai. Hong Kong: Odyssey Books and Guides, 2007

  Hinton, William. Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966

  Ho, Peng Yoke. Reminiscence of a Roving Scholar: Science, Humanities, and Joseph Needham. Singapore: World Scientific, 2005

  Hogg, George. I See a New China. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1944.

  ‘Holorenshaw, Henry’ [pen name for Joseph Needham]. The Levellers and the English Revolution. Foreword, Joseph Needham. London: Victor Gollancz, 1939

  Hook, Brian, ed. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

  Hsiung, James C., and Steven I. Levine, eds. China’s Bitter Victory: The War with Japan, 1937–1945. Armonk, NY: Sharpe, 1992

  Huang, Ray. 1587: A Year of No Significance – The Ming Dynasty in Decline. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981

  Huang, Ray. China: A Macro History. Armonk, NY: Sharpe, 1997.

  Ingram, Jay. The Velocity of Honey: And More Science of Everyday Life. New York: Thunder’s Mouth, 2003

  Israel, John. Student Nationalism in China, 1927–1937. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1966