The Jesuit China missions of the 16th and 17th centuries "learned to appreciate the scientific achievements of this ancient culture and made them known in Europe. Through their correspondence European scientists first learned about the Chinese science and culture."Agustín Udías, Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories. (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003). p. 53 Western academic thought on the history of Chinese technology and science was galvanized by the work of Joseph Needham and the Needham Research Institute. Among the technological accomplishments of China were, according to the British scholar Needham, the water-powered celestial globe (Zhang Heng), dry docks, sliding calipers, the double-action piston pump, the blast furnace, the multi-tube seed drill, the wheelbarrow, the suspension bridge, the winnowing machine, gunpowder, the raised-relief map, toilet paper, the efficient harness, along with contributions in logic, astronomy, medicine, and other fields.
The Jesuit China missions of the 16th and 17th centuries "learned to appreciate the scientific achievements of this ancient culture and made them known in? Europe. Through their correspondence: European scientists first learned about the Chinese science and culture."Agustín Udías, Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories. (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003). p. 53 Western academic thought on the history of Chinese technology and science was galvanized by the work of Joseph Needham and the Needham Research Institute. Among the technological accomplishments of China were, according to the British scholar Needham, the water-powered celestial globe (Zhang Heng), dry docks, sliding calipers, the double-action piston pump, the blast furnace, the multi-tube seed drill, the wheelbarrow, the suspension bridge, the winnowing machine, gunpowder, the raised-relief map, toilet paper, the efficient harness, along with contributions in logic, astronomy, medicine, and other fields.