Social determinism is the theory that social interactions alone determine individual behavior (as opposed to biological or objective factors).
A social determinist would only consider social dynamics like
customs, cultural expectations, education, and interpersonal
interactions as the contributing factors to shape human behavior.
Non-social influences, like biology, would be ignored in their
contribution towards behavior. Thus, in line with the nature-nurture debate, social determinism is analogous to the 'nurture' side of the argument.
Overview
Social determinism was studied by the French philosopher Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), who was considered the father of social science. Social determinism is most commonly understood in opposition to biological determinism.
However, within the media studies discipline, social determinism is understood as the counterpart of technological determinism. Technological determinism
is the notion that technological change and development are inevitable
and that the characteristics of any given technology determine how it is
used by the society in which it is developed. The concept of
technological determinism is dependent on the premise that social
changes come about as a result of the new capabilities that new
technologies enable.
Technological determinism
Social
determinism perceives technology as a result of the society in which it
is developed. A number of contemporary media theorists have provided
persuasive accounts of social determinism, including Lelia Green (2001).
In her book Technoculture, Green examines in detail the
workings of a social determinist perspective, and argues "social
processes determine technology for social purposes." She claims that every technological development throughout history was
born of a social need, be this need economical, political or military.
According to Green (2001), technology is always developed with a
particular purpose or objective in mind. As the development of
technology is necessarily facilitated by financial funding, a social
determinist perspective recognizes that technology is always developed
to benefit those who are capable of funding its development.
Thus, social determinists perceive that technological development
is not only determined by the society in which it occurs, but that it
is inevitably shaped by the power structures that exist in that society.
Background
Social determinism branches off the overarching concept of determinism, which is the notion that pre-existing causes determine all events, circumstances, or behaviors.
Determinism proposes that all behavior has either an external or internal cause.
Theories and concepts
Listed below are some theories and concepts that relate to the perspective of social determinism. As psychology is a constantly developing field, this is not a definitive list but includes significant studies and ideas.
Behaviorism
Social determinism aligns with the concept of behaviorism,
which is the study of observable human behavior. Behaviorists believe
that an individual's behavior can be explained by the response to the
environment around them. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning
provide an example of socially deterministic factors on behavior. These
processes of conditioning provide evidence to suggest that behavior is
learned and associated with consequences from the environment. Conditioning has been argued to be deterministic, as there is a lack of free will in the response of learning.
Social determinism aligns with the theory of behaviorism and
conditioning, due to the social influences and environmental factors
that determine a person's behavior.
Obedience
The concept of compliance
and following orders relates to social determinism, as it follows the
idea that individuals follow orders based on environmental and social
variables.
This relates to the concept of social influence determining behavior, as demonstrated from the Milgram Experiment
conducted in 1963. This study looked at environmental stimuli and
social pressure on the responses of participants, namely whether they
would inflict harm on another person.
The results from this study showed that participants were more or
less likely to follow orders based on the perceived authority and
prestige of the experimenter.
Milgram's study was replicated in the 21st century, with similar
findings developed, suggesting the conclusions withstand the test of
time. These studies into destructive obedience are prime example of how
individuals are predetermined by their social environment, causing them
to behave in certain ways which they may not have under different
circumstances.
Sociocultural theory of cognitive development
The sociocultural theory emphasises how social contexts and interactions can determine children's behavior. Lev Vygotsky
developed this theory prior to his death in 1934; his manuscripts and
essays were translated and published posthumously, allowing the theory
to be developed.
Vygotsky explores how inputs from an individual's society, culture and interactions contribute to development, demonstrating the socially deterministic aspects in advancing mental abilities. His essays are compiled in his book, Mind in Society, which focuses on the effect of cultural and parental interaction on child development.
Examples of the theory in practice can be seen cross-culturally,
looking at the life-cycle of human development, with changes in
development dependent on their context. Children of war, poverty and famine are likely to have lower cognitive
abilities and mental illnesses like PTSD and anxiety. This can be owed
to the trauma from their environments and distress from exposure to
stressful social contexts. This reinforces the concept that their mental
health, behavioural responses and abilities are determined by the
societal interactions and environment.
Social learning theory
The social learning theory
provides a model which accounts for the range of learning experiences
that occur during child development and interaction. This theory was
proposed by Albert Bandura in 1977. The theory is behavioral and cognitive
in nature, suggesting that learning is a cognitive process that occurs
based on the social context, with reinforcement and modelling playing a
key role.
Bandura provided evidence to suggest that a child's development
and behavior is determined by the social interactions they have in their
lives. Bandura illustrated this concept through observational learning, demonstrated in his 1961 Bobo doll experiment. This experiment looked at imitation, namely looking at whether children
copied the behaviour of an adult. In this contex, it was aggressive
physical and verbal behaviour. Through the experiment and further
research, Bandura outlined the contribution of modelling and social behavior in determining children's behavior, providing evidence for the concept of social determinism.
Cross-cultural studies
Cross-cultural
studies demonstrate how cultural variation can significantly impact an
individual's inherent beliefs and behavior. Considering the results of
cross-cultural psychological studies, the social context
has a significant impact on a person's behavior and responses. This is
notable when considering socialization and attitudes towards mental
health and crises.
This section looks at a limited number of human behavioral
responses and interactions, and how the context plays a key part in the
individuality of response.
Helping behaviour
Levine
et al.'s 2001 study was conducted in 23 large, global cities. The study
looked at the likelihood of individuals from different cultures on
helping in non-emergency situations. The results indicated that altruistic
behaviour varied depending on the society that an individual was a part
of. This variation was owed to the factors such as the normality of
amiable social behavior (simpatia), economic productivity, socialization and cultural traditions.
Levine's study supports the concept of social determinism, as it
suggests that helping behavior is primarily influenced by socialization
and cultural determinants.
Well-being
Across different cultures, the population have varied opinions on the 'ideal' level of subjective well-being. Evidence has shown that it is important to consider individual
perspectives when rating happiness and well-being. Attempts to identify a
universal indicator for subjective well-being has been unsuccessful, due to the significant variation in cultural contexts.
Social interactions and context play heavily into individual
desires to express certain emotions; for example, studies have shown
that East Asians tend to have lower levels of well-being, and emotions
that are considered 'positive' and desired differ. For example, European Americans enjoy feeling high-energy emotions,
like excitement, whilst individuals from Hong Kong prefer calmer states. Similarly, the nature of a society being individualist or collectivist can play a part in ideals of well-being. Studies have suggested that individuals within collectivist societies
have lower life satisfaction due to stringent cultural norms and
amplified societal pressure.
Well-being is a good example of social determination. It
demonstrates that an individual's perspectives on what constitutes as
being satisfied and well is dependent on socialization and cultural
context.
Conflict resolution
Cultural
and social practices play a critical role in the way individuals handle
conflict. It appears that societal aspects, like collectivism, can
explain differences in approaches to dealing with conflicts. A quasi-experimental
study found that Mexicans use negotiating techniques far more than
their US counterparts when dealing with conflict, a finding owed to the
collectivist nature of society and social cues.
Ideology
The creation of an ideology within the society of the individual can cause an individual's actions and reactions to stimuli to become predetermined to adhere to the social rules imposed on them.
Ideologies can be created using social institutions such as
schooling, which "have become the terrain upon which contending forces
express their social and political interest," or the mass media, which has "significant power in shaping the social
agenda and framing of public opinion to support that agenda."
Social determinism can favor a political party's agenda by
setting social rules so that the individual considers the party's agenda
to be morally correct, an example being the 2010 G20 summit riots in Toronto.
An individual's view on the subject was influenced by the media and
their reactions are predetermined by that social form of control. "We
have been taught to think that censorship is the main mechanism of how
the media uses information as a form of social control, but in fact what
is said, and how it is selectively presented, is a far more powerful form of information control."
Arguments against social determinism
Biology
The arguments that are against social determinism largely fall under biological determinism, which aligns closely with the 'nature' side of the nature vs nurture debate.
Social pre-wiring hypothesis
Scientific studies have shown that social behavior
is partly inherited and can influence infants and also even influence
foetuses. "Wired to be social" means that infants are not taught that
they are social beings, but they are born with inherited social skills.
Social pre-wiring refers to the ontogeny of social interaction,
which is informally referred to as, "wired to be social." This concept
deals with the study of fetal social behavior and social interactions in
a multi-fetal environment. Specifically, the theory questions whether
there is a propensity to socially oriented action already present before birth. Research in the theory concludes that newborns are born into the world with a unique genetic wiring to be social.
Circumstantial evidence supporting the social pre-wiring
hypothesis can be revealed when examining newborns' behavior. Newborns,
not even hours after birth, have been found to display a preparedness
for social interaction. This preparedness is expressed in ways such as their imitation of facial gestures. This observed behavior cannot be contributed to any current form of socialization. Rather, newborns most likely inherit to some extent social behavior and identity through genetics.
Principal evidence of this theory is uncovered by examining twin pregnancies. The main argument is, if there are social behaviors that are inherited and developed before birth, then one should expect twin foetuses to engage in some form of social interaction
before they are born. Thus, ten foetuses were analyzed over a period of
time using ultrasound techniques. Using kinematic analysis, the results
of the experiment were that the twin foetuses would interact with each
other for longer periods and more often as the pregnancies went on.
Researchers were able to conclude that the performance of movements
between the co-twins were not accidental but specifically aimed.
The social pre-wiring hypothesis was proved correct, "The central advance of this study is the demonstration that 'social actions' are already performed in the second trimester of gestation. Starting from the 14th week of gestation
twin foetuses plan and execute movements specifically aimed at the
co-twin. These findings force us to predate the emergence of social behavior:
when the context enables it, as in the case of twin foetuses,
other-directed actions are not only possible but predominant over
self-directed actions." This suggests that there are inherent, biological factors which are
responsible for factors like social behaviour, which disputes the
argument of social determinism.
Traumatic brain injuries
Findings
from head-injury studies suggest that some aspects of behavior can
change after a traumatic brain injury. Significant brain damage is
associated with poorer decision making, reduced regulation ability and
changes in personality.
The 1848 case of Phineas Gage is the first recorded case study into the localisation of brain function,
providing evidence to show that personality and behaviour is determined
by brain structure. After a large rod was driven through his head,
destroying most of his left frontal lobe, his personality shifted to
become significantly more hostile and aggressive. Accounts from his doctor, family and friends claimed after the accident
his personality and behaviors changed so radically that he was "no
longer Gage".
Researchers have argued this provides evidence for the nature
side of the debate on behaviour, as evidence has shown that it was the
physical trauma that caused the shift in Gage's social interactions and
perspectives. This is reinforced by research into brain tumors and contemporary
studies into brain injuries. The location of a tumor can have a
significant impact on personality and cognitive abilities, suggesting
that behavior and socialization is not solely owed to social aspects.
Neuroscientific evidence into brain localisation and function
suggests that once the integrity of the brain is disturbed, there are
far-reaching consequences with changes in personality, emotions and
behaviour usually experienced.
The Jesuit China missions of the 16th and 17th centuries introduced Western science and astronomy, while undergoing its own scientific revolution, at the same time bringing Chinese knowledge of technology back to Europe. In the 19th and 20th centuries the introduction of Western technology
was a major factor in the modernization of China. Much of the early
Western work in the history of science in China was done by Joseph Needham and his Chinese partner, Lu Gwei-djen.
Ancient China
The Warring States period began 2500 years ago at the time of the invention of the crossbow. Needham notes that the invention of the crossbow "far outstripped the
progress in defensive armor", which made the wearing of armor useless to
the princes and dukes of the states. At this time, there were also many nascent schools of thought in China—the Hundred Schools of Thought (諸子百家), scattered among many polities. The schools served as communities which advised the rulers of these states. Mo Di
(墨翟 Mozi, 470 BCE–c. 391 BCE) introduced concepts useful to one of
those rulers, such as defensive fortification. One of these concepts, fa (法 principle or method) was extended by the School of Names (名家 Ming jia, ming=name), which began a systematic exploration of logic. The development of a school of logic was cut short by the defeat of Mohism's political sponsors by the Qin dynasty, and the subsumption of fa as law rather than method by the Legalists.
Needham further notes that the Han dynasty, which conquered the short-lived Qin, were made aware of the need for law by Lu Jia and by Shusun Tong, as defined by the scholars, rather than the generals.
You conquered the empire on horseback, but from horseback you will never succeed in ruling it.
Derived from Taoist philosophy, one of the newest longstanding contributions of the ancient Chinese are in Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and herbal medicine.
The practice of acupuncture can be traced back as far as the 1st
millennium BC and some scientists believe that there is evidence that
practices similar to acupuncture were used in Eurasia during the early Bronze Age.
Early Taoism cautioned against using technologies that could create chaos or "sully the spirit." A story in the Zhuangzi
about a master gardened who refuses to use a well-sweep warns against
the use of "clever machines," suggesting that those walking the
righteous path should avoid them.
Using shadow clocks and the abacus (both invented in the ancient Near East
before spreading to China), the Chinese were able to record
observations, documenting the first recorded solar eclipse in 2137 BC,
and making the first recording of any planetary grouping in 500 BC. These claims, however, are highly disputed and rely on much supposition. The Book of Silk was the first definitive atlas of comets, written c. 400 BC. It listed 29 comets (referred to as sweeping stars) that appeared over a period of about 300 years, with renderings of comets describing an event its appearance corresponded to.
In architecture, the pinnacle of Chinese technology manifested itself in the Great Wall of China, under the first Chinese EmperorQin Shi Huang between 220 and 200 BC. Typical Chinese architecture changed little from the succeeding Han dynasty until the 19th century. The Qin dynasty also developed the crossbow, which later became the
mainstream weapon in Europe. Several remains of crossbows have been
found among the soldiers of the Terracotta Army in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang.
The Eastern Han dynasty scholar and astronomer Zhang Heng (78–139 AD) invented the first water-powered rotating armillary sphere (the first armillary sphere having been invented by the GreekEratosthenes), and catalogued 2,500 stars and over 100 constellations. In 132, he invented the first seismological detector, called the "Houfeng Didong Yi" ("Instrument for inquiring into the wind and the shaking of the earth"). According to the History of Later Han Dynasty
(25–220 AD), this seismograph was an urn-like instrument, which would
drop one of eight balls to indicate when and in which direction an
earthquake had occurred. On June 13, 2005, Chinese seismologists announced that they had created a replica of the instrument.
The mechanical engineer Ma Jun (c. 200–265 AD) was another impressive figure from ancient China. Ma Jun improved the design of the silk loom, designed mechanical chain pumps to irrigate palatial gardens, and created a large and intricate mechanical puppettheatre for Emperor Ming of Wei, which was operated by a large hidden waterwheel. However, Ma Jun's most impressive invention was the south-pointing chariot, a complex mechanical device that acted as a mechanical compass vehicle. While the exact mechanism is unclear, scholars think it incorporated the use of a differential gear in order to apply equal amount of torque to wheels rotating at different speeds, a device that is found in all modern automobiles.
Pin-pointing the development of the compass can be difficult: the magnetic attraction of a needle is attested by the Louen-heng, composed between AD 20 and 100, although the first undisputed magnetized needles in Chinese literature appear in 1086.
By AD 300, Ge Hong, an alchemist of the Jin dynasty, conclusively recorded the chemical reactions caused when saltpetre, pine resin and charcoal were heated together, in Book of the Master of the Preservations of Solidarity. Another early record of gunpowder, a Chinese book from c. 850 AD, indicates:
Some have heated together sulfur, realgar and saltpeter with honey;
smoke and flames result, so that their hands and faces have been burnt,
and even the whole house where they were working burned down.
These four discoveries had an enormous impact on the development of
Chinese civilization and a far-ranging global impact. Gunpowder, for
example, spread to the Arabs in the 13th century and thence to Europe. According to EnglishphilosopherFrancis Bacon, writing in Novum Organum:
Printing, gunpowder and the
compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things
throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation;
whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no
sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in
human affairs than these mechanical discoveries.
—
One of the most important military treatises of all Chinese history was the Huo Long Jing written by Jiao Yu in the 14th century. For gunpowder weapons, it outlined the use of fire arrows and rockets, fire lances and firearms, land mines and naval mines, bombards and cannons, two stage rockets,
along with different compositions of gunpowder, including 'magic
gunpowder', 'poisonous gunpowder', and 'blinding and burning gunpowder'
(refer to his article).
For the 11th century invention of ceramic movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051), it was enhanced by the wooden movable type of Wang Zhen in 1298 and the bronze metal movable type of Hua Sui in 1490.
China's Scientific Revolution
Ships of the world in 1460 (Fra Mauro map). Chinese junks are described as very large, three- or four-masted ships.
In the 7th century, book-printing was developed in China, Korea and Japan, using delicate hand-carved wooden blocks to print individual pages. The 9th century Diamond Sutra is the earliest known printed document. Movable type was also used in China for a time, but was abandoned
because of the number of characters needed; it would not be until Johannes Gutenberg that the technique was reinvented in a suitable environment.
In addition to gunpowder, the Chinese also developed improved delivery systems for the Byzantine weapon of Greek fire, Meng Huo You and Pen Huo Qi first used in China c. 900. Chinese illustrations were more realistic than in Byzantine manuscripts, and detailed accounts from 1044 recommending its use on city walls and
ramparts show the brass container as fitted with a horizontal pump, and a
nozzle of small diameter. The records of a battle on the Yangtze near Nanjing in 975 offer an insight into the dangers of the weapon, as a change of wind direction blew the fire back onto the Song forces.
The Song dynasty
(960–1279) brought a new stability for China after a century of civil
war, and started a new area of modernisation by encouraging examinations
and meritocracy. The first Song Emperor created political institutions that allowed a great deal of freedom of discourse and thought, which facilitated the growth of scientific advance, economic reforms, and achievements in arts and literature. Trade flourished both within China and overseas, and the encouragement of technology allowed the mints at Kaifeng and Hangzhou to gradually increase in production. In 1080, the mints of Emperor Shenzong had produced 5 billion coins (roughly 50 per Chinese citizen), and the first banknotes were produced in 1023. These coins were so durable that they would still be in use 700 years later, in the 18th century.
There were many famous inventors and early scientists in the Song dynasty period. The statesman Shen Kuo is best known for his book known as the Dream Pool Essays (1088 AD). In it, he wrote of use for a drydock to repair boats, the navigational magnetic compass, and the discovery of the concept of true north (with magnetic declination towards the North Pole). Shen Kuo also devised a geological theory for land formation, or geomorphology, and theorized that there was climate change in geological regions over an enormous span of time.
The equally talented statesman Su Song was best known for his engineering project of the AstronomicalClock Tower of Kaifeng, by 1088 AD. The clock tower was driven by a rotating waterwheel and escapement mechanism. Crowning the top of the clock tower was the large bronze, mechanically driven, rotating armillary sphere. In 1070, Su Song also compiled the Ben Cao Tu Jing (Illustrated Pharmacopoeia, original source material from 1058 to 1061 AD) with a team of scholars. This pharmaceutical treatise covered a wide range of other related subjects, including botany, zoology, mineralogy, and metallurgy.
Chinese astronomers were the first to record observations of a supernova, the first being the SN 185, recorded during the Han dynasty. Chinese astronomers made two more notable supernova observations during the Song dynasty: the SN 1006, the brightest recorded supernova in history; and the SN 1054, making the Crab Nebula the first astronomical object recognized as being connected to a supernova explosion.
During the early half of the Song dynasty (960–1279), the study of archaeology developed out of the antiquarian interests of the educated gentry and their desire to revive the use of ancient vessels in state rituals and ceremonies. This and the belief that ancient vessels were products of 'sages' and
not common people was criticized by Shen Kuo, who took an interdisciplinary
approach to archaeology, incorporating his archaeological findings into
studies on metallurgy, optics, astronomy, geometry, and ancient music measures. His contemporary Ouyang Xiu
(1007–1072) compiled an analytical catalogue of ancient rubbings on
stone and bronze, which Patricia B. Ebrey says pioneered ideas in early epigraphy and archaeology. In accordance with the beliefs of the later Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886), some Song gentry—such as Zhao Mingcheng
(1081–1129)—supported the primacy of contemporaneous archaeological
finds of ancient inscriptions over historical works written after the
fact, which they contested to be unreliable in regard to the former
evidence. Hong Mai (1123–1202) used ancient Han dynasty era vessels to debunk
what he found to be fallacious descriptions of Han vessels in the Bogutu archaeological catalogue compiled during the latter half of Huizong's reign (1100–1125).
Geology and climatology
In addition to his studies in meteorology, astronomy, and archaeology
mentioned above, Shen Kuo also made hypotheses in regards to geology and climatology in his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, specifically his claims regarding geomorphology and climate change. Shen believed that land was reshaped over time due to perpetual erosion, uplift, and deposition of silt, and cited his observance of horizontal strata of fossils embedded in a cliffside at Taihang
as evidence that the area was once the location of an ancient seashore
that had shifted hundreds of miles east over an enormous span of time. Shen also wrote that since petrified bamboos were found underground in a
dry northern climate zone where they had never been known to grow,
climates naturally shifted geographically over time.
Chemistry
Until the Song dynasty, Chinese medicine classified drugs under the system of the Zhenghe bencao (Herbal of the Zhenghe Era):
Superior drugs, associated with immortality, were used for the realization of vital powers
Medium drugs that enrich one's nature
Inferior drugs were those used to treat diseases
These early forms of drugs were made using primitive methods, usually
just simple dried herbs, or unprocessed minerals. They were developed
into combinations known as "elixirs of immortality". These early magical
practices, supported by the imperial courts of Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BCE) and Emperor Wu
(156–87 BCE) eventually led to the first observations of chemistry in
ancient China. Chinese alchemists searched for ways to make cinnabar, gold and other minerals water soluble so they could be ingested, such as using a solution of potassium nitrate in vinegar . Solubilzation of cinnabar was found to occur only if an impurity (chlorideion) was present. Gold also was soluble when iodate was present in crude niter deposits.
Mongol rule under the Yuan dynasty saw technological advances from an economic perspective, with the first mass production of paper banknotes by Kublai Khan in the 13th century.Numerous contacts between Europe and the Mongols occurred in the 13th century, particularly through the unstable Franco-Mongol alliance.
Chinese corps, expert in siege warfare, formed an integral part of the
Mongol armies campaigning in the West. In 1259–1260 military alliance of
the Franks knights of the ruler of Antioch, Bohemond VI and his father-in-law Hetoum I with the Mongols under Hulagu, in which they fought together for the conquests of Muslim Syria, taking together the city of Aleppo, and later Damascus. William of Rubruck, an ambassador to the Mongols in 1254–1255, a personal friend of Roger Bacon, is also often designated as a possible intermediary in the transmission of gunpowder know-how between the East and the West. The compass is often said to have been introduced by the Master of the Knights TemplarPierre de Montaigu between 1219 and 1223, from one of his travels to visit the Mongols in Persia.
As Toby E. Huff notes, pre-modern Chinese science developed precariously without solid scientific theory, while there was a lacking of consistent systemic treatment in comparison to contemporaneous European works such as the Concordance and Discordant Canons by Gratian of Bologna (fl. 12th century). This drawback to Chinese science was lamented even by the mathematician Yang Hui (1238–1298), who criticized earlier mathematicians such as Li Chunfeng (602–670) who were content with using methods without working out their theoretical origins or principle, stating:
The men of old changed the name of
their methods from problem to problem, so that as no specific
explanation was given, there is no way of telling their theoretical
origin or basis.
—
Despite this, Chinese thinkers of the Middle Ages proposed some
hypotheses which are in accordance with modern principles of science.
Yang Hui provided theoretical proof for the proposition that the
complements of the parallelograms which are about the diameter of any given parallelogram are equal to one another. Sun Sikong (1015–1076) proposed the idea that rainbows were the result of the contact between sunlight and moisture in the air, while Shen Kuo (1031–1095) expanded upon this with description of atmospheric refraction. Shen believed that rays of sunlight refracted before reaching the
surface of the Earth, hence the appearance of the observed Sun from
Earth did not match its exact location. Coinciding with the astronomical work of his colleague Wei Pu,
Shen and Wei realized that the old calculation technique for the mean
Sun was inaccurate compared to the apparent Sun, since the latter was
ahead of it in the accelerated phase of motion, and behind it in the retarded phase. Shen supported and expanded upon beliefs earlier proposed by Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) scholars such as Jing Fang (78–37 BCE) and Zhang Heng (78–139 CE) that lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth obstructs the sunlight traveling towards the Moon, a solar eclipse
is the Moon's obstruction of sunlight reaching Earth, the Moon is
spherical like a ball and not flat like a disc, and moonlight is merely
sunlight reflected from the Moon's surface. Shen also explained that the observance of a full moon occurred when
the Sun's light was slanting at a certain degree and that crescent phases of the moon
proved that the Moon was spherical, using a metaphor of observing
different angles of a silver ball with white powder thrown onto one
side. Although the Chinese accepted the idea of spherical-shaped heavenly bodies, the concept of a spherical Earth (as opposed to a flat Earth) was not accepted in Chinese thought until the works of Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) and Chinese astronomer Xu Guangqi (1562–1633) in the early 17th century.
There were noted advances in traditional Chinese medicine during the Middle Ages. Emperor Gaozong (reigned 649–683) of the Tang dynasty (618–907) commissioned the scholarly compilation of a materia medica
in 657 that documented 833 medicinal substances taken from stones,
minerals, metals, plants, herbs, animals, vegetables, fruits, and cereal
crops. In his Bencao Tujing ('Illustrated Pharmacopoeia'), the scholar-official Su Song (1020–1101) not only systematically categorized herbs and minerals according to their pharmaceutical uses, but he also took an interest in zoology. For example, Su made systematic descriptions of animal species and the
environmental regions they could be found, such as the freshwater crabEriocher sinensis found in the Huai River running through Anhui, in waterways near the capital city, as well as reservoirs and marshes of Hebei.
Horology and clockworks
Although the Bencao Tujing was an important pharmaceutical work of the age, Su Song is perhaps better known for his work in horology. His book Xinyi Xiangfayao
(新儀象法要; lit. 'Essentials of a New Method for Mechanizing the Rotation
of an Armillary Sphere and a Celestial Globe') documented the intricate
mechanics of his astronomical clock tower in Kaifeng. This included the use of an escapement mechanism and world's first known chain drive to power the rotating armillary sphere crowning the top as well as the 133 clock jack figurines positioned on a rotating wheel that sounded the hours
by banging drums, clashing gongs, striking bells, and holding plaques
with special announcements appearing from open-and-close shutter
windows.While it had been Zhang Heng who applied the first motive power to the armillary sphere via hydraulics in 125 CE,it was Yi Xing (683–727) in 725 CE who first applied an escapement mechanism to a water-powered celestial globe and striking clock. The early Song dynasty horologist Zhang Sixun (fl. late 10th century) employed liquid mercury
in his astronomical clock because there were complaints that water
would freeze too easily in the clepsydra tanks during winter.
Magnetism and metallurgy
Shen Kuo's written work of 1088 also contains the first written description of the magnetic needle compass, the first description in China of experiments with camera obscura, the invention of movable type printing by the artisan Bi Sheng (990–1051), a method of repeated forging of cast iron under a cold blast similar to the modern Bessemer process, and the mathematical basis for spherical trigonometry that would later be mastered by the astronomer and engineer Guo Shoujing (1231–1316). While using a sighting tube of improved width to correct the position of the pole star (which had shifted over the centuries), Shen discovered the concept of true north and magnetic declination towards the North Magnetic Pole, a concept which would aid navigators in the years to come.
In addition to the method similar to the Bessemer process
mentioned above, there were other notable advancements in Chinese
metallurgy during the Middle Ages. During the 11th century, the growth
of the iron industry caused vast deforestation due to the use of charcoal in the smelting process. To remedy the problem of deforestation, the Song Chinese discovered how to produce coke from bituminous coal as a substitute for charcoal. Although hydraulic-powered bellows for heating the blast furnace had been written of since Du Shi's
(d. 38) invention of the 1st century CE, the first known drawn and
printed illustration of it in operation is found in a book written in
1313 by Wang Zhen (fl. 1290–1333).
Qin Jiushao (c. 1202–1261) was the first to introduce the zero symbol into Chinese mathematics. Before this innovation, blank spaces were used instead of zeros in the system of counting rods. Pascal's triangle was first illustrated in China by Yang Hui in his book Xiangjie Jiuzhang Suanfa (详解九章算法), although it was described earlier around 1100 by Jia Xian. Although the Introduction to Computational Studies (算学启蒙) written by Zhu Shijie (fl. 13th century) in 1299 contained nothing new in Chinese algebra, it had a great impact on the development of Japanese mathematics.
Alchemy and Taoism
Stoneware bombs, known in Japanese as Tetsuhau (iron bomb), or in Chinese as Zhentianlei (thunder crash bomb),
excavated from the Takashima shipwreck, October 2011. Excavated bombs
contain a 3–6 cm (1.2–2.4 in) opening at the top where the fuse was
placed. Once the fuse was lit, the bomb was thrown either by hand or
catapult. According to the Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba scroll, these
bombs made a large noise and emitted bright fire upon explosion. Prior
to the shipwreck's discovery, observers believed the bombs depicted in
the scroll were a later addition.
In their pursuit for an elixir of life and desire to create gold from various mixtures of materials, Taoists became heavily associated with alchemy. Joseph Needham labeled their pursuits as proto-scientific rather than merely pseudoscience. Fairbank and Goldman write that the futile experiments of Chinese alchemists did lead to the discovery of new metal alloys, porcelain types, and dyes. However, Nathan Sivin discounts such a close connection between Taoism and alchemy, which some sinologists have asserted, stating that alchemy was more prevalent in the secular sphere and practiced by laymen.
Experimentation with various materials and ingredients in China
during the middle period led to the discovery of many ointments, creams,
and other mixtures with practical uses. In a 9th-century Arab work Kitāb al-Khawāss al Kabīr,
there are numerous products listed that were native to China, including
waterproof and dust-repelling cream or varnish for clothes and weapons,
a Chinese lacquer, varnish, or cream that protected leather items, a completely fire-proof cement for glass and porcelain, recipes for Chinese and Indian ink, a waterproof cream for the silk garments of underwater divers, and a cream specifically used for polishing mirrors.
The Jesuit China missions
of the 16th and 17th centuries introduced Western science and
astronomy, then undergoing its own revolution, to China. One modern
historian writes that in late Ming courts, the Jesuits were "regarded as
impressive especially for their knowledge of astronomy,
calendar-making, mathematics, hydraulics, and geography." The Society of Jesus introduced, according to Thomas Woods,
"a substantial body of scientific knowledge and a vast array of mental
tools for understanding the physical universe, including the Euclidean
geometry that made planetary motion comprehensible." Another expert quoted by Woods said the scientific revolution brought
by the Jesuits coincided with a time when science was at a very low
level in China:
[The Jesuits] made efforts to
translate western mathematical and astronomical works into Chinese and
aroused the interest of Chinese scholars in these sciences. They made
very extensive astronomical observation and carried out the first modern
cartographic work in China. They also learned to appreciate the
scientific achievements of this ancient culture and made them known in
Europe. Through their correspondence European scientists first learned
about the Chinese science and culture.
Johann Adam Schall published Yuan Jing Shuo, Explanation of the
Telescope, in 1626, in Latin and Chinese. Schall's book referred to the
telescopic observations of Galileo.
Conversely, the Jesuits were very active in transmitting Chinese knowledge to Europe. Confucius's works were translated into European languages through the agency of Jesuit scholars stationed in China. Matteo Ricci started to report on the thoughts of Confucius, and Father Prospero Intorcetta published the life and works of Confucius into Latin in 1687. It is thought that such works had considerable importance on European thinkers of the period, particularly among the Deists and other philosophical groups of the Enlightenment who were interested by the integration of the system of morality of Confucius into Christianity.
The followers of the French physiocratFrançois Quesnay habitually referred to him as "the Confucius of Europe", and he personally identified himself with the Chinese sage. The doctrine and even the name of "Laissez-faire" may have been inspired by the Chinese concept of Wu wei. However, the economic insights of ancient Chinese political thought had
otherwise little impact outside China in later centuries. Goethe, was known as "the Confucius of Weimar".
One question that has been the subject of debate among historians has been why China did not develop a Scientific Revolution
and why Chinese technology fell behind that of Europe. Many hypotheses
have been proposed ranging from the cultural to the political and
economic. John K. Fairbank,
for example, argued that the Chinese political system was hostile to
scientific progress. As for Needham, he wrote that cultural factors
prevented traditional Chinese achievements from developing into what
could be called "science." It was the religious and philosophical
framework of the Chinese intellectuals which made them unable to believe
in the ideas of laws of nature:
It was not that there was no order
in nature for the Chinese, but rather that it was not an order ordained
by a rational personal being, and hence there was no conviction that
rational personal beings would be able to spell out in their lesser
earthly languages the divine code of laws which he had decreed
aforetime. The Taoists,
indeed, would have scorned such an idea as being too naïve for the
subtlety and complexity of the universe as they intuited it.
Another prominent historian of science, Nathan Sivin,
has argued that China did indeed experience a Scientific Revolution in
the 17th century; however, it must be understood in the context of its
time and culture, rather than through a Western lens as an analog of Europe's revolution.
There are also questions about the philosophy behind traditional
Chinese medicine, which, derived partly from Taoist philosophy, reflects
the classical Chinese belief that individual human experiences express
causative principles effective in the environment at all scales. Because
its theory predates use of the scientific method, it has received various criticisms based on scientific thinking. Philosopher Robert Todd Carroll, a member of The Skeptics Society, deemed acupuncture a pseudoscience because it "confuse(s) metaphysical claims with empirical claims".
More recent historians have questioned political and cultural explanations and have put greater focus on economic causes. Mark Elvin's high level equilibrium trap
is one well-known example of this line of thought. It argues that the
Chinese population was large enough, workers cheap enough, and agrarian
productivity high enough to not require mechanization: thousands of
Chinese workers were perfectly able to quickly perform any needed task. Other events such as Haijin,
the Opium Wars and the resulting hate of European influence prevented
China from undergoing an Industrial Revolution; copying Europe's
progress on a large scale would be impossible for a lengthy period of
time. Political instability under Cixi
rule (opposition and frequent oscillation between modernists and
conservatives), the Republican wars (1911–1933), the Sino-Japanese War
(1933–1945), the Communist/Nationalist War (1945–1949) as well as the
later Cultural Revolution isolated China at the most critical times. Kenneth Pomeranz has made the argument that the substantial resources taken from the New World to Europe made the crucial difference between European and Chinese development.
In his 1997 book Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond
postulates that the lack of geographic barriers within much of
China—essentially a wide plain with two large navigable rivers and a
relatively smooth coastline—led to a single government without
competition. At the whim of a ruler who disliked new inventions,
technology could be stifled for half a century or more. In contrast,
Europe's barriers of the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the various defensible
peninsulas (Denmark, Scandinavia, Italy, Greece, etc.) and islands
(Britain, Ireland, Sicily, etc.) led to smaller countries in constant
competition with each other. If a ruler chose to ignore a scientific
advancement (especially a military or economic one), his more-advanced
neighbors would soon usurp his throne. This explanation, however,
ignores the fact that China had beenpolitically fragmentedin the past, and was thus not inherently disposed to political unification.
Justin Yifu Lin argued for the role of the imperial examination system in removing the incentives for Chinese intellectuals to learn mathematics or to conduct experimentation. Yasheng Huang
argued that the imperial examination system monopolized the most
capable intellectuals in service of the state, sustained the propagation
of Confucianism, and preempted the emergence of ideas that could
challenge it.
The Republic of China (1912–1949)
The Republic of China (1912–1949)
saw the introduction in earnest of modern science to China. Large
numbers of Chinese students studied abroad in Japan and in Europe and
the US. Many returned to help teach and to found numerous schools and
universities. Among them were numerous outstanding figures, including Cai Yuanpei, Hu Shih, Weng Wenhao, Ding Wenjiang, Fu Ssu-nien,
and many others. As a result, there was a tremendous growth of modern
science in China. As the Communist Party took over China's mainland in
1949, some of these Chinese scientists and institutions moved to Taiwan.
The central science academy, Academia Sinica, also moved there.
Participants in the May Fourth Movement of 1919 advocated that science (nicknamed, "Mr. Science"), along with Democracy ("Mr. Democracy") could save China. Belief in the idea of "saving China through science" (kexue jiuguo) increased during the ROC period.
After the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, China reorganized its science establishment along Soviet lines. Although the country regressed scientifically as a result of government policies which led to famine during the Great Leap Forward and political chaos during the Cultural Revolution, scientific research in nuclear weapons and satellite launching still gained great success.
China began a formal computing development program in 1956 when
it launched the Twelve-Year Science Plan and formed the Beijing
Institute of Computing Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). In 1958, China completed its first vacuum-tube computer. Over the next several years, Chinese researchers expanded on these efforts with extrapolation from Soviet models.
Following the Sino-Soviet split,
China continued to develop domestic computing and electronic
institutions, including the Beijing Institute of Electronics in 1963.
Beginning in 1964, China through the Third Front
construction built a self-sufficient industrial base in its hinterlands
as a strategic reserve in the event of war with the Soviet Union or the
United States.
The Third Front construction was primarily carried out in secret, with
the location for Third Front projects following the principle of “close
to the mountains, dispersed, and hidden” (靠山, 分散, 隐蔽; kàoshān, fēnsàn, yǐnbì). From 1964 to 1974, China invested more than 40% of its industrial capacity in Third Front regions. After Nixon's China trip in 1972, investment to the Third Front region gradually declined. Rapprochement between the United States and China decreased the fear of invasion which motivated the Third Front construction. Through its distribution of infrastructure, industry, and human capital
around the country, the Third Front created favorable conditions for
subsequent market development and private enterprise.
In 1964, CAS debuted China's first self-developed large digital computer, the 119. The 119 was a core technology in facilitating China's first successful nuclear weapon test (Project 596), also in 1964.
From 1975, science and technology was one of the Four Modernizations, and its high-speed development was declared essential to all national economic development by Deng Xiaoping.
Other civilian technologies such as superconductivity and high-yield
hybrid rice led to new developments due to the application of science to
industry and foreign technology transfer.
In March 1986, China launched a large-scale technology development plan, the 863 Project.
As the People's Republic of China becomes better connected to the global economy,
the government has placed more emphasis on science and technology. This
has led to increases in funding, improved scientific structure, and
more money for research. These factors have led to advancements in agriculture, medicine, genetics, and global change. In 2003, the Chinese space program
allowed China to become the third country to send humans into space,
and ambition to put a man on mars by 2030. In the 2000s and 2010s, China
became a top scientific and industrial power in more advanced fields
such as super computing, artificial intelligence, bullet trains, aeronautics, nuclear physics researches and other fields.
In 2006, China established the Medium to Long-Term Plan for the Development of Science and Technology. Prior national science and technology plans like the 863 Program and the 973 Project had promoted basic scientific research whereas the Medium to Long-Term Plan focused on promoting seven industries deemed strategically significant.
In 2016, China became the country with the highest science
output, as measured in publications. While the US had been the biggest
producer of scientific studies until then, China published 426,000
studies in 2016 while the US published 409,000. However, the numbers are somewhat relative, as it also depends how
authorship on international collaborations is counted (e.g. if one paper
is counted per person or whether authorship is split among authors). In 2022, China passed both the US and the European Union in the number of high-impact papers published. As of 2024, the Nature Index ranks seven Chinese universities or institutions in the global top ten for volume of research output. The Leiden Ranking rates six in the global top ten.
