Kevin Kelly in The Next Fifty Years of Science (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6119231548215342323 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6119231548

Kevin Kelly in The Next Fifty Years of Science (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6119231548215342323 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6119231548215342323) has one answer: the Chinese never developed the leverage of the scientific method, and corollary, all such civilizations are stuck at the level of clever technology, never able to make knowledge multiples.