El nivel educativo en la participación de la mujer:

Collections of essays from one or more authors covering a wide spectrum of aspects and disciplines in the Chinese scientific, technological and medical traditions are available for researchers working in the field as well as non-specialists.

For those seeking to sample or to familiarise themselves with Needham’s writings and thinking on the subject, there are several volumes to choose from. The Grand Titration: Science and Society in China and the West: Lectures and Addresses on the History of Science and Technology (1969) contains eight previously published essays — some incorporating revisions — that assess and rationalise various facets in the intricate relationship between the development of the society as a whole and that of science and technology in ancient as well as modern China, generously laced with comparisons with the Wes­ tern scene.1 While The Grand Titration focuses on issues of a more sociological and philosophical nature, a much broader range of themes and topics dealing with scientific, technological and medical matters is covered in Clerks and Craftsman in China and the West (1970), some of which are highly technical and s p e c i a l i s e d .% Needham himself has

^In Needham own words, the overarching aim in these accounts is to " ’titrate’ the great civilisations against one another, to. . . analyze the various constituents, social or intellectual, to see why one combination could far excel in medieval times while another could catch up later on and bring modern science itself into existence": Joseph Needham, The Grand Titration: Science and Society in East and West (London: Allen & Unwin, 1969), pp. 12.

Zpor instance, astronomy, horology, meteorology, mariner’s com­ pass, iron and steel production, mechanical engineering, proto­

endocrinology, hygiene and preventive medicine. There are also gene­ ral essays such as "The Translation of Old Chinese Scientific and Technical Texts" and "The Roles of Europe and China in the Evolution of Oecumenical Science".

provided an admirable characterisation of the different categories into which these essays fall and the audience for which they are meant in his preface. Nevertheless, underlying these nineteen essays — first published in the 1940s, *50s and ’60s, some revised — is the message, in Sivin’s words, of "the undeniable comparability of Chinese and European-Islamic traditions before the Scientific Revolu­ tion (often asserted by Needham as superior on the Chinese side), the

inability of Chinese science to make the connections which would have revolutionized it and made it universal, the interplay of essential elements from all the great civilizations in the formation of modern science in E u r o p e . A bibliography (according to chapters), a chronology of Chinese dynasties, and an index are supplied. In reviewing The Grand Titration. Knud Lundbeck remarked that the book "as a whole is extremely stimulating and especially useful for readers who cannot find time to study the Magnum O p u s . T o A. G. Holland Clerks and Craftsman in China and the West fulfils a similar function in that it "provides a good introduction to Needham’s work in much shorter scope than his monumental S C C . B u t in Sivin’s opinion, the latter title is "far more useful on the whole" than the other collection.*

Needham occasionally wrote his papers in French; moreover, some of his English articles were translated into French. The French version of The Grand Titration — translated by Eugène Jacob — appeared in 1973 as La science chinoise et l ’occident: le grand titrage. (Also published in 1973 was the Italian translation of The Grand Titration — Scienza e società in Cina — prepared by M.

Baccianini). A collection of eleven French essays (most of which were originally written from 1949 to 1970 in English) can be found in

^Nathan Sivin, rev. of Clerks and Craftsman in China and the West by Joseph Needham, in Isis, 64 (1973), 418.

^Knud Lundbeck, rev. of The Grand Titration by Joseph Needham, in Centaurus, 16 (1972), 327.

^A. G. Holland, rev. of Clerks and Craftsmen in China and the West by Joseph Needham, in British History of the History of Science.

5 (1971), 413.

*Sivin, rev. of The Grand Titration by Joseph Needham, in Journal of Asian Studies. 30 (1970), 873.

La tradition scientifique chinoise (1974). It is divided into three sections: "I. Confrontations"; "IX. Science et technique"; "III. Société et philosophie".^

Science in Traditional China: A Comparative Perspective (1981) is composed up of four lectures which began life as the. Second Series of C h ’ien Mu Lectures at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Commencing with an introductory essay which glances at various

aspects and themes in the history of Chinese science, technology and medicine, these lectures deal respectively with gunpowder and fire­ arms, comparative microbiology, acupuncture and moxibustion, and attitudes towards time.

A cross-section of studies by other scholars were gathered in three essay collections:

(1) Chinese Science: Explorations of an Ancient Tradition (1973) edited by Nakayama and Sivin is a valuable volume on two counts. The first four papers deliver a thoughtful and informed introduction to as well as a critique of the theory and reasoning behind Needham’s reconstruction and appraisal of the historical status of Chinese science and technology. The second part is "a sample, as represen­ tative as possible, of the kinds of exploration now proceeding at the various frontiers of Chinese s c i e n c e . These encompass astronomy, optics, medicine, the Chinese concept of nature, and a bibliography of Western works.

(2) Science and Technology in East Asia (1977) edited by Sivin

carries nineteen papers originally published in Isis between 1914 and 1976, including two that focus on Japan. In the editor’s words,

"most of the papers in this book are concerned with identifying some aspects of the special style of Far Eastern science and technology or its effects upon the encounter between East and W e s t . T h e essays

^Of interest is the list: "Références des citations des textes chinois".

^Nathan Sivin, "Preface," in Chinese Science: Explorations of an Ancient Tradition, ed. Nakayama Shigeru, and Nathan Sivin (Cam­

bridge, Mass.: MIT P, 1973), pp. xii.

^Nathan Sivin, "Introduction," Science and Technology in East Asia, ed. Nathan Sivin (New York: Science History Publications,

are grouped under four categories,^

(3) The most recent collection of articles is a festschrift com­ piled in honour of Needham’s eightieth birthday* Published in 1982 and involving East Asian as well as Western specialists, it offers biographical reminiscenes and original studies on a variety of topics

including mathematics, alchemy, gunpowder, mining, agricultural technology, textiles technology, medicine, etc. Some papers are written in Chinese and others in English, but all are furnished with summaries in English.

Taken as a whole, these essay collections and collective works can do much to enhance the serious student’s understanding and appreciation of the field of traditional Chinese science since a fairly generous range is represented, some directed at specific problems while others are more broadly-oriented. Besides, not only were several of Needham’s major studies incorporated into these collections, but perhaps even more importantly, one can savour the views and findings of other authorities and workers in the field. However, the technical details, complex interpretations and elabo­ rate arguments in some papers may be too daunting to the absolute novice or too sophisticated for those looking for a simple, acces­ sible and basic first introduction to the subject.