Download or read book Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 7, The Social Background, Part 2, General Conclusions and Reflections written by Joseph Needham and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-07-22 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joseph Needham, who died in 1995, was the greatest British historian of China of the last 100 years. His Science and Civilisation in China series caused a seismic shift in western perceptions of China, revealed as perhaps the world's most scientifically and technically productive country in pre-modern times. But why did the scientific and industrial revolutions not happen in China? Joseph Needham reflects on possible answers to this question in the concluding volume of this series and provides fascinating insights into his great intellectual quest.