This fifth volume of Colin Ronan's abridgement of Joseph Needham's monumental work is concerned with the remarkable engineering feats made during the early and medieval periods. No other country did more in civil engineering, both as to scale and skill, than China. The book opens with an account of the road system, which compared favorably with that of the Roman Empire. Naturally, the Great Wall of China is covered in some detail within the social context of walls, which--more than any other structure--mark the basic features of Chinese communities. The Chinese genius for town planning and...