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The Way and the Word: Science and Medicine in Early China and Greece
The rich civilizations of China and Greece built sciences of comparable sophistication -- each based on different foundations of concept, method, and organization. In this engrossing book, two world-renowned scholars compare the cosmology, science, and medicine of China and Greece between 400 B.C. and A.D. 200, casting new 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 what motivated them, 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 A.D. 200 the distinctive scientific strengths of both China and Greece showed equal potential for theory and practice. Lloyd and Sivin argue that 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.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published October 11, 2002
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About the author
G.E.R. Lloyd
38 books16 followersSir Geoffrey Ernest Richard Lloyd is Emeritus Professor of Ancient Philosophy and Science at the Needham Research Institute. His University career has been based chiefly at the University of Cambridge, where he held various University and College posts, first at King's College and then at Darwin. From 1983 onwards he held a personal Chair in Ancient Philosophy and Science and from 1989 until retirement in 2000 he was Master of Darwin College. He served as Chairman of the East Asian History of Science trust, which is the governing body directing the work of the Needham Research Institute from 1992 to 2002, and afterward Senior Scholar in Residence at that Institute.
Prof. Lloyd has held visiting professorships and lectured across the world, in Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Greece) in the Far East (Fellow of the Japan society for the Promotion of Science in Tokyo in 1981, visiting professor at Beijing daxue in 1987, visiting professor at Sendai in 1991, and the first Zhu Kezhen Visiting Professor in the History of Science at the Institute for the History of Natural Science, Beijing, in 2001), in Australasia (Hood Professor at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland, 2006) and in North America (Bonsall professor, Stanford in 1981; Sather professor Berkeley in 1984; AD White professor at large, Cornell from 1990 to 1996; also lectured at Harvard, Princeton, the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies, Yale, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Austin, Chicago among other places).
He has served on the editorial committees of 10 journals, including Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, Journal of the History of Astronomy, Physis, History of the Human Sciences, Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, Endoxa and Antiquorum Philosophia.
Prof. Lloyd has held visiting professorships and lectured across the world, in Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Greece) in the Far East (Fellow of the Japan society for the Promotion of Science in Tokyo in 1981, visiting professor at Beijing daxue in 1987, visiting professor at Sendai in 1991, and the first Zhu Kezhen Visiting Professor in the History of Science at the Institute for the History of Natural Science, Beijing, in 2001), in Australasia (Hood Professor at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland, 2006) and in North America (Bonsall professor, Stanford in 1981; Sather professor Berkeley in 1984; AD White professor at large, Cornell from 1990 to 1996; also lectured at Harvard, Princeton, the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies, Yale, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Austin, Chicago among other places).
He has served on the editorial committees of 10 journals, including Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, Journal of the History of Astronomy, Physis, History of the Human Sciences, Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, Endoxa and Antiquorum Philosophia.
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January 13, 2018
This book is not quite what I was hoping for, and I suppose in some way that is why I cannot give it the full 5 stars despite doing an admirable job in its actual intent. The book is less about the science and medicine of Ancient Greece and Ancient China, than on what I would call the Weltanschauung, or world-view, behind science and medicine in Greece and China from approximately 400 BC to 200 AD. Instead of calling it a Weltanschauung, they call the cultural/political/societal milieu of each society a manifold. They then proceed to examine what drove the societies at the times in question, and explain what the typical philosopher, scientist, or skilled artisan would be expected to do and believe.
This is an interesting comparison, and can help explain how the Greeks and Chinese arrived at the conceptual frameworks they used in science. For this, the book is excellent. My main problem is that it does not give me a good sense of how science and philosophy was actually used in each society. I have a lot more experience with Greek science, and so know approximately how their methods worked and how they compare with modern methods. The authors are careful to not judge either society with modern methods, but it would have been helpful to know from a modern perspective how "accurate" certain ideas are. Here I'm thinking primarily of astronomy, where it would have been nice to know how Chinese (and Greek, though, I am aware of the cognitive models) thought of calculations in a physical sense, or if they did. These were the type of insights I was looking for and did not find in the book. I learned a great deal about what drove people in philosophy, but didn't get a good sense of the actual accomplishments made.
Quite an interesting book, that if you have an interest in how/why Chinese/Greek science became what it was, is a good introduction. If you're looking for specific scientific comparisons, then this is not the right book.
This is an interesting comparison, and can help explain how the Greeks and Chinese arrived at the conceptual frameworks they used in science. For this, the book is excellent. My main problem is that it does not give me a good sense of how science and philosophy was actually used in each society. I have a lot more experience with Greek science, and so know approximately how their methods worked and how they compare with modern methods. The authors are careful to not judge either society with modern methods, but it would have been helpful to know from a modern perspective how "accurate" certain ideas are. Here I'm thinking primarily of astronomy, where it would have been nice to know how Chinese (and Greek, though, I am aware of the cognitive models) thought of calculations in a physical sense, or if they did. These were the type of insights I was looking for and did not find in the book. I learned a great deal about what drove people in philosophy, but didn't get a good sense of the actual accomplishments made.
Quite an interesting book, that if you have an interest in how/why Chinese/Greek science became what it was, is a good introduction. If you're looking for specific scientific comparisons, then this is not the right book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review