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MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

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    Founded in 1994, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin is one of the more than 80 research institutes administered by the Max Planck Society. It is dedicated to the study of the history of science and aims to understand scientific thinking and practice as historical phenomena.

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    The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science comprises three departments under the direction of Jürgen Renn (I), Etienne Benson (II), and Dagmar Schäfer (III).

     

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  • Presentation
  • Dec 1, 2020
  • 01:04:06

The Chinese Past (and Future?) of Natural Sciences (in German)

  • Dagmar Schäfer
  • Dept. III

Compass, paper, gunpowder, and printing with movable type: that China knew and described the four great inventions before the Europeans has been known since well before the 2008 Olympic Games, says sinologist and Department III director Prof. Dagmar Schäfer. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, historians of science have researched how China adopted the natural sciences and thus established and asserted itself as a modern nation. This lecture presents the process of development in China's sciences, and how this development as a counter-model to European development became a research focus, to an identity builder and political theme that contemporary China exports as an alternative model worldwide, and especially to Asia and Africa (the Global South).

Moderation: Christof Schulz (CEO Volkshochschule SüdOst), Claus Luedenbach (CEO Volkshochschule Erding).

You can also listen to the lecture as part of the "Hörsaal" podcast series by Deutschlandfunk Nova.

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VHS Wissen Live

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Listen to Audio at Deutshclandfunk Nova Website of VHS Wissen Live Go to "Hörsaal" Overview page
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