The Structure of Science and Technology in History: On the Factors Delaying the Development of Science and Technology in China in Comparison with the West since the 17th Century (Part One)

Based on statistical analysis of the scientific and technological achievements of China and the West during the past two thousand years, this paper compares the special features of the development of each as a whole. Historically, Chinese science and technology slowly and persistently developed and for a long time led the world. After the sixteenth century, the West gradually established the structure of modern science and technology, which consists of a structural view of nature, controlled experiment, and an open system of technology. This structure has a cyclic, accelerating mechanism which promotes scientific and technological revolution. The present paper is a new attempt to explain the reasons why modern Chinese science and technology lags behind the West by exploring the structure of science and technology itself and its interdependence with the social structure.