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1、WhytheScientificRevolutionDidNotTakePlaceinChina—orDidn'tIt?N.Sivinrevised2005.8.24(ThisisarevisedversionofanessayfirstpublishedinChineseScience,1982,5:45-66,andoftenanthologized.)Thisessaymakesthecasefortwoconclusions.First,whythescientificrevolutiondidnottakeplaceinChinaisnotaques
2、tionthathistoricalresearchcananswer.Itisbe-comesausefulquestionprimarilywhenonelocatesthefallaciesthatleadpeopletoaskit.Second,ascientificrevolution,bythecriteriathathistoriansofscienceuse,didtakeplaceinChinaintheeighteenthcentury.Itdidnot,however,havethesocialconse-quencesthatweass
3、umeascientificrevolutionwillhave.Themostobviousconclusionisthatthoseassumptionsaremistaken.11ThisessayincorporatesmycurrentviewsonahistoricalissuetowhichIhavereturnedregularlyforsomeyears.Nodoubtmyviewsonthistopicwillbedifferentinanotherdecade;allImeantoaccomplishwiththeseephemeralr
4、eflectionsistotransmittheideathattheissueisworththinkingabout,tosuggesthowonemightthinkaboutit,andtopointoutthatcertainwaysofthinkingaboutitaresoburdenedbysuspectassumptionsthattheydonotencourageclearexplanation.Ihaveaddressedoneaspectoran-otherinpreviouswritings,towhichthereaderisr
5、eferredfordocumentation:“CopernicusinChina,”StudiaCopernicana,1973,6:63-122;“ShenKua”and“WangHsi-shan,”inDictionaryofScientificBiography,s.v.,;“NextStepsinLearningaboutSciencefromtheChineseExperience,”Proceedings,XIVthInterna-tionalCongressoftheHistoryofScience(TokyoandKyoto,19-27Au
6、gust1974),I,10-18;Sivin(ed.),Sci-enceandTechnologyinEastAsia(NewYork:ScienceHistoryPublications,1977),pp.xi-xxi;and“Chine-sischeNaturwissenschaft:WeberundNeedham,”inWolfgangSchluchter(ed.),MaxWebersStudiefiberKonfuzianismusundTaoismus.InterpretationundKritik(München,1982).JosephNeed
7、hamhasalsopro-videdasummaryofourconversationsandcorrespondenceonthe“ScientificRevolutionProblem,”aninterestingattempttospecifydifferencesandsimilaritiesinourviews,inScienceandCivi!isationinChina,vol.5,part2,SpagyricalDiscoveryandInvention:MagisteriesofGoldandImmortality(CambridgeUni
8、versityPress,1974),