The Way and the Word

The Way and the Word: Science and Medicine in Early China and Greece [Hardcover]

Author: | Language: English | ISBN: 0300092970 | Format: PDF, EPUB

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The Way and the Word: Science and Medicine in Early China and Greece
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The rich civilizations of ancient China and Greece built sciences of comparable sophistication, each based on different foundations of concept, method and organization. In this text, two scholars compare the cosmology, science and medicine of China and Greece between 400 BC and AD 200, casting light not only on the two civilizations but also on the evolving character of science. Sir Geoffrey Lloyd and Nathan Sivin investigate the differences between the thinkers in the two civilizations: what motivated them, how they understood the cosmos and the human body, how they were educated, how they made a living, and whom they argued with and why. The authors' new method integrally compares social, political and intellectual patterns and connections, demonstrating how all affected and were affected by ideas about cosmology and the physical world. They relate conceptual differences in China and Greece to the diverse ways that intellectuals in the two civilizations earned their living, interacted with fellow inquirers, and were involved with structures of authority. By AD 200 the distinctive scientific strengths of both China and Greece showed equal potential for theory and practice. Lloyd and Sivin argue that modern science evolved not out of the Greek tradition alone but from the strengths of China, Greece, India, Islam and other civilizations, which converged first in the Muslim world and then in Renaissance Europe.

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• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300092970
• ISBN-13: 978-0300092974
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,060,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

I would have thought that to be an expert on early Chinese science was enough to occupy at least one lifetime, and the same can be said about expertise in early Greek science. Only amateurs would claim to know enough to write about early science in both civilizations and make comparisons. And yet, in this slim work, a leading authority on ancient Greek science and an equally knowledgeable China expert have talked and corresponded and shared drafts with each other and with other scholars at conferences over a ten-year period resulting in a truly pathbreaking work. Geoffrey Lloyd (now Sir Geoffrey) is emeritus professor of ancient history at the University of Cambridge and author of definitive works on early Greek science. Nathan Sivin is professor of Chinese culture and of the history of science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is probably the world's leading expert on Chinese science and has written extensively on most of its aspects. He is the author of the section on the theoretical background of Chinese alchemy in volume V part 4, and edited the medical volume, volume VI part 6, of Joseph Needham's monumental Science and Civilization in China. The dustcover begins our education depicting an ancient Chinese character for tao, the Way, and the Greek ëïãïò, logos, the Word. The Way carries with it the sense of process, of change, which is not implicit in the Word. The chapter headings give us pause for they suggest, though erroneously it turns out, that the book is assembled from individual writings by the two authors.

This book has an interesting conceit: two leading historians of science, one of Ancient Greece, one of Ancient China will examine the sciences of both great civilizations and provide an comparative outlook. It looks at a period from roughly the fifth century BC to the end of the second century AD. Nathan Sivin looks at China and Geoffrey Lloyd looks at Greece. There is a discussion of the social background to science, followed by one of the leading scientific concepts. The basic contrast between the two can be simply stated. Chinese scientists lived in a system of patronage, originally to the various warring states, then as bureaucrats to the emperor. Patronage was capricious, and it was limited, but the result was a society that thoroughly accepted highly conservative and authoritarian attitudes. Higher education per se did not exist in the way Greek academies did. Books were slower to develop than in the Greek world. Learning was based on the understanding and memorization of philosophical classics. Most striking of all was the way that scholars did not encourage debate; instead there was a firm emphasis on consensus and agreement, and an uncontested idea of serving the great ruler. The world of Greek scientists was very different: this was a world of city states, many of which were very democratic. In the absence of consistent state patronage and vigorous debate, especially in the field of law, Greek scientists engaged in their own constant debates as they competed with each other and sought to demonstrate the truth as they saw it.
The results were distinct scientific attitudes. The Greeks saw the world in causes and in elements, while the Chinese invoked "the Way," yin-yang, and the five phases.

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