Professor links ancient cultures

Few dispute the notion that the cultures of early Greece and China were quite different. However, comparable record-keeping during the same period of history opens up the opportunity to study the scientific practices of both cultures in parallel. Nathan Sivin, professor of Chinese culture and of the History of Science, addressed this topic during a seminar entitled "The Emergence of Science and Medicine in Early Greece and China." Monday's seminar, followed by an hour-long lively discussion, was a part of the Department of History and Sociology of Science Fall 2000 Workshop series. "When we ask why the sciences and medicine in the two cultures were so different, we can find the answers in the distinct Greek and Chinese manifolds of which they were part," Sivin said. Sivin compared early Greek and Chinese culture (400 B.C.-200 B.C.E ) on four main levels: where scientists/physicians originated in society; their sources of support; oral and written communication; and the "content of technical thought." According to Sivin, scientific thought flourished equally in both cultures during this period, until either the rise of Buddhism in China or Christianity in Greece fundamentally changed the scientific approach. Since every citizen had a basic education in Greek society, scientists came from every level, although there was "no government employment and very few sources of support for large projects," Sivin said. Intellectuals engaged in open debate on many issues, with the public determining the winner. Since there was tremendous pressure to explain everything rationally, the practice of "bluffing" became commonplace when one did not know the answer to a scientific question. In China, scientists came from the elite class of individuals who could read and write. State support for projects was available, and "only the palace could afford new technical activities on a large scale," Sivin said. With science rooted in civil service and supported by the state, "Chinese intellectuals were not attracted to open conflict," Sivin said. Without open debate, disputes tended to be "written and indirect." Sivin went on to make other detailed comparisons between the two cultures, all excerpted from his forthcoming book, The Way and the Word. Sivin's seminar attracted faculty and students from a variety of departments. Ouzi Rotem, a graduate student in the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Department, is particularly interested in Chinese religion and noted, "Chinese medicine is interwoven with religion and philosophy."