Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 11, Ferrous Metallurgy

ISBN-13: 9780521875660 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 512 str.

Donald B Wagner

Opis

Comprehensive historical account of the production and use of iron and steel in China in their political and economic context. An initial chapter on the traditional Chinese iron industry introduces the important technical concepts and the ways in which technology, geography, and economics influence political phenomena. Further chapters cover developments from the Han to the Tang, the technical evolution and economic revolution of the Song period, and economic expansion under the Ming. A final chapter investigates the debt of the modern steel industry to Chinese developments.

Recenzje

'[Wagner's] thoughtful presentation and reflections on how his own research developed throughout [the] decades in the wake of newly emerging evidence and the changing intellectual discourse, makes this volume of the Needham series an exceptional guidebook for research methods in the field of the history of technology in general and ferrous metallurgy in particular … The research in this book reflects the author's intimate knowledge of the technology and history of metallurgy.' Dagmar Schäfer, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Spis treści

1. Introduction; 2. Introductory orientations: the traditional Chinese iron industry in recent centuries; 3. The earliest use of iron in China; 4. The flourishing iron industry of the -3rd and -2nd centuries; 5. The Han state monopoly of the iron industry; 6. The arts of the smith from Late Han through Tang; 7. Technical evolution and economic revolution in the Song period; 8. Economic expansion in the Ming period; 9. Some Chinese contributions to modern siderurgical technology; 10. Epilogue.