Universal Mathematical Laws in a Mechanical Universe

Abstract

After the seminal studies of Needham, historians of science have generally conceded that Chinese discoveries in technology from the beginning of the Han dynasty to about 1500 far outpaced in ingenuity and sophistication those developed in most other civilizations. However, Needham also argued that the cosmological and philosophical orientation of Chinese thought precluded the development of modern science in China. According to Needham, Chinese correlative cosmology, which explained phenomena in terms of each part of the cosmos accommodating itself to changes in other parts to promote universal harmony, obstructed Chinese thought, by preventing the development of the experimental approach for studying nature, and the notion of universal natural laws governing the universe. Needham saw the main obstacle to the emergence of the concept of universal natural law among the Chinese to be their nontheistic spiritual orientation. This made it difficult for them to conceive the universe as regulated by laws, since such a conception can only arise in the context of belief in a being that sets these laws.