Further Reflection on the Query of Needham' s Puzzle

This paper deems that the Needham' s Puzzle is rational, and reflects again on the doctrines which query if the puzzle is scientific, or perfect, or a real problem. These doctrines involve deep-level issues , such as the notions about history, science, history of science, and methodology. Doctrine 1 believes that the Western world was a center in the development of science, and that in ancient China there appeared only technology with no science. It refuses to acknowledge the brilliant achievements gained by the ancient Chinese. Doctirne 2 negates the coherence and generality of science , holding that science is something particular and only modern science can be looked upon as science or scientific. Doctrine 3 claims that the Needham ' s Puzzle is too narrow in historical perspective, and hinders the modernization of the study of history. These three doctrines have something in common, that is, all of them have degenerated into metaphysics. The Needham' s Puzzle is a masterpiece of Joseph Needham in his study of the history of the development of science in both China and the Western world. It also shows the great advantage of the methodology used in his study, which is to compare the development of science of both China and the Western world from a contemporary perspective as well as a historical perspective. His study grasps the key point and has the nature of dialectics, and is quite beneficial to the discovery of the laws of the development of science in both China and the Western world.