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You've got me interested--I've been trying to find a good way to release myself from the eurocentric view of history, particularly as it concerns science/techno

You've got me interested--I've been trying to find a good way to release myself from the eurocentric view of history, particularly as it concerns science/technology/mathematics. Do you know of any good resources in addition to Needham's work that might be helpful?

dredmorbius 6y ago
Good question. I've scratched a bit of this, I'm not expert. Needham alone is huge, and Chinese technology vast. If you can find a copy (a decent college/uni library should have a set), it's fascinating to leaf through. There are several digests, one a single volume, another a mere ten (!), rather than the 30 or so of the full work. Simon Winchester has written a biography, The Man Who Loved China. Philosphy covers a fair bit of general knowledge development, and Peter Adamson's series in his History of Philosophy project includes Western, Arabic/Islamic, Indian, Africana, and eventually Chinese philosophy. Science and technology make apprearances, along with ... a lot ... of religion, ethics, aesthetcss, logic, epistemology, metaphysics, and more. I'm very weak on anything Africa. The UNESCO series A General History of Africa, 11 volumes, (1964-) is the most comprehensive of which I'm aware, which isn't saying much. It includes technology, though not as a principle focus: https://en.unesco.org/general-history-africa#collection https://en.unesco.org/general-history-africa#collection For the Americas and Oceania, you'll likely need to look into anthropological studies rather than history per se. Charles C. Mann's 1491 may be a good introduction to the Americas. https://www.worldcat.org/title/1491-new-revelations-of-the-americas-before-columbus/oclc/1102319292 https://www.worldcat.org/title/1491-new-revelations-of-the-a... Vaclav Smil's Energy in World History, the precursor to his more recent Energy and Civilization, is history told through the lens of energy and energy-related technologies (which ... happens to be many of them). https://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/1124490716 https://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/... There are numerous recent books on the history of technology, and an increasing number of works looking at economic aand technological histories of regions, cultures, and eras, particularly of Greece and Rome (obviously Western tradition), though all but certainly others. Jared Diamond's Collapse and Guns, Germs, and Steel cover some of this, but are also exquisitely researched. The real value for you may be in their bibliographies. The New Books Network podcast surveys recent academic publications in numerous areas, with author interviews, and should be useful mining, notably: Science, Technology, and Society https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/science-technology/science-technology-and-society https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/science-technology/scie... Intellectual History https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/intellectual-history https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/intell... History https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/history https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/histor...

dredmorbius 6y ago

Good question. I've scratched a bit of this, I'm not expert. Needham alone is huge, and Chinese technology vast. If you can find a copy (a decent college/uni library should have a set), it's fascinating to leaf through. There are several digests, one a single volume, another a mere ten (!), rather than the 30 or so of the full work. Simon Winchester has written a biography, The Man Who Loved China. Philosphy covers a fair bit of general knowledge development, and Peter Adamson's series in his History of Philosophy project includes Western, Arabic/Islamic, Indian, Africana, and eventually Chinese philosophy. Science and technology make apprearances, along with ... a lot ... of religion, ethics, aesthetcss, logic, epistemology, metaphysics, and more. I'm very weak on anything Africa. The UNESCO series A General History of Africa, 11 volumes, (1964-) is the most comprehensive of which I'm aware, which isn't saying much. It includes technology, though not as a principle focus: https://en.unesco.org/general-history-africa#collection https://en.unesco.org/general-history-africa#collection For the Americas and Oceania, you'll likely need to look into anthropological studies rather than history per se. Charles C. Mann's 1491 may be a good introduction to the Americas. https://www.worldcat.org/title/1491-new-revelations-of-the-americas-before-columbus/oclc/1102319292 https://www.worldcat.org/title/1491-new-revelations-of-the-a... Vaclav Smil's Energy in World History, the precursor to his more recent Energy and Civilization, is history told through the lens of energy and energy-related technologies (which ... happens to be many of them). https://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/1124490716 https://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/... There are numerous recent books on the history of technology, and an increasing number of works looking at economic aand technological histories of regions, cultures, and eras, particularly of Greece and Rome (obviously Western tradition), though all but certainly others. Jared Diamond's Collapse and Guns, Germs, and Steel cover some of this, but are also exquisitely researched. The real value for you may be in their bibliographies. The New Books Network podcast surveys recent academic publications in numerous areas, with author interviews, and should be useful mining, notably: Science, Technology, and Society https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/science-technology/science-technology-and-society https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/science-technology/scie... Intellectual History https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/intellectual-history https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/intell... History https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/history https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/histor...