Why did capitalism and modern science originate in Western Europe instead of China or other Needham civilizations? This is the famous riddle of Needham. Needham's question is actually: Why didn't modern science and technology and industrial civilization come into being in China, which was the most developed and prosperous in science and technology and economy in the world at that time? Europe experienced a thousand years of religious darkness, and ancient Greek and Roman books were destroyed by burning books in the Middle Ages of Europe. Europe revived Greek and Roman culture from the ancient Greek books preserved by the Arab Empire, and at the same time digested and absorbed the achievements of Chinese civilization in science and technology, industry, system and literature and art, thus giving birth to modern science and technology and industrial civilization-global earth civilization.
From Kyle Polo's travels to Columbus' discovery of the New World, Europe started the Renaissance and learned from the Eastern civilization. From 1643, when Newton was born, to 1765, when Watt steam engine started the industrial revolution, and to 1783, when the American War of Independence ended, Europe and America entered the era of industrial civilization. However, China entered the Opium War in 1840. 1840 or so, British mechanized production has basically replaced handicraft production. 183 1 year, British scientist Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction. 1847, Siemens-Halske telegraph manufacturing company was established, which opened the electrification era. From the birth of Kyle Poirot to the electrification of the industrial revolution, Europe has gone through about 600 years of efforts and finally completely surpassed China.
Difficult problem expression
Needham's puzzle is expressed in two paragraphs: Needham's first paragraph is: Why did the science and technology of ancient China far surpass that of Europe between the first century BC and the sixteenth century AD? Why didn't the separation of church and state, the selection system, private school education and a hundred schools of thought in China come into being in the same period in Europe?
The second paragraph is: Why did modern science not come into being in China, but in the west in the17th century, especially in Europe after the Renaissance?
Representative significance
The Needham puzzle is very intriguing. It is like a complex "higher order equation" in the kingdom of science. As we all know, China is a world-renowned ancient civilization, which once had a proud glory in science and technology. In addition to the four world-famous inventions, there are as many as 100 scientific inventions and discoveries that are ahead of the world. Robert Temple, an American scholar, wrote in his famous book China, A Civilized Country: "If the Nobel Prize was established in ancient China, then the winners of all the prizes will undoubtedly belong to China people." Of course, this is impossible.
However, since the middle of17th century, China's science and technology, like a declining river, has fallen into a dilemma. According to relevant data, from the 6th century to the beginning of17th century, the proportion of China in the world's major scientific and technological achievements has been above 54%, but by19th century, it dropped sharply to only 0.4%. Why China and the West have plunged and soared in science and technology, which has opened such a big distance, is a puzzle that Needham has long found incredible and puzzling.