Development of Science in

Asia
I. IN/DIA

India is a sub-continent that is surrounded by vast bodies of water and fortified by huge
mountains in its borders. Ancient India are known for their various contributions to the
field of astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. They are also known for manufacturing
iron and in metallurgical works, in which, their iron steel is considered to be the best
during those times.

India, in terms of medicine, is very famous during the old ages, for example, they created
a system of traditional medicine that originated in Ancient India before 2500 BC, and is
still practiced as a form of alternative medicine, and is call Ayurveda. They also
discovered some medicinal properties of plants that led them to develop medicines to
cure various illness. Susruta Samhita is an ancient text that describes different surgical
and other medical procedures famous in Ancient India.

Ancient India is also notable in the field of Astronomy. Their interest in astronomy was
evident in the first 12 chapters of Siddhanta Shiromani, written in the 12th century. This
ancient text covered topics such as: mean longitudes of the planets; true longitudes of the
planets; the three problems of diurnal rotation; syzygies; lunar eclipses; solar eclipses;
latitudes of the planets; rising and settings; the moon’s crescent; conjunctions of the
planets with each other; conjunctions of the planets with the fixed stars; and the paths of
the Sun and Moon.

They are also very well known for their contributions to Mathematics. The earliest traces
of mathematical knowledge in the Indian subcontinent appeared in the Indus Valley
Civilization. The people of this civilization tried to standardize measurement if length to
a high degree of accuracy and designed a ruler, the Mohenjodaro Ruler.

KEY PEOPLE IN INDIA

- Aryabhata
 - Introduced a number of trigonometric functions, tables and techniques, as well
as algorithms of algebra, in his book, Aryabhatiya.

- Brahmagupta

- Suggested that gravity was a force of attraction, and lucidly explained the use of
zero as both a placeholder and a decimal digit, along with the Hindu-Arabic
numeral system now used universally throughout the world.

- Madhava of Sangamagrama

- Considered as the founder of Mathematical Analysis.

II. CHINA (Old Silk Road and Traditional Chinese Medicine)

OLD SILK ROAD

The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes, formally established during
the Han Dynasty of China, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce
between 130 BCE-1453 CE. Silk Road is known to be the world's longest and most
historically important overland trade route. As the Silk Road was not a single
thoroughfare from east to west, the term 'Silk Routes’ has become increasingly favored
by historians, though 'Silk Road’ is the more common and recognized name.

From East to West the goods included:

 Ivory
 Silk  Rice
 Tea  Paper
 Dyes  Gunpowder
 Precious Stones
 China (plates, bowls, cups, vases)
 Porcelain
 Spices (such as cinnamon and
ginger)
 Bronze and gold artifacts
 Medicine
 Perfumes
While many different kinds of merchandise traveled along the Silk Road, the name comes
from the popularity of Chinese silk with the west, especially with Rome. The Silk Road
routes stretched from China through India, Asia Minor, up throughout Mesopotamia, to
Egypt, the African continent, Greece, Rome, and Britain.

The northern Mesopotamian region (present-day Iran) became China’s closest partner in
trade, as part of the Parthian Empire, initiating important cultural exchanges. Paper,
which had been invented by the Chinese during the Han Dynasty, and gunpowder, also
a Chinese invention, had a much greater impact on culture than did silk. The rich spices
of the east, also, contributed more than the fashion which grew up from the silk industry.
Even so, by the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus (r.27 BCE – 14 CE) trade between
China and the west was firmly established and silk was the most sought-after commodity
in Egypt, Greece, and, especially, in Rome.

TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) originated in ancient China 2,500 years ago and has
evolved over thousands of years. TCM practitioners use herbal medicines and various
mind and body practices, such as acupuncture and tai chi, to treat or prevent health
problems.

Traditional Chinese Practices

 Acupuncture - practice that entails stimulating certain points on the body, most
often with a needle penetrating the skin, to alleviate pain or to help treat various
health conditions. In traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is linked to the
belief that disease is caused by disruptions to the flow of energy, or qi, in the body.
Acupuncture stimulates points on or under the skin called acupuncture points or
acupressure points, releasing this qi.
 Moxibustion - burning an herb above the skin to apply heat to acupuncture
points; form of heat therapy in which dried plant materials called "moxa" are
burned on or very near the surface of the skin. The intention is to warm and
invigorate the flow of Qi in the body and dispel certain pathogenic influences
 Tui Na (Chinese Therapeutic massage)
 Dietary Therapy
 Tai Chi and Qi Gong - practices that combine specific movements or postures,
coordinated breathing, and mental focus
TCM is rooted in the ancient philosophy of Taoism and dates back more than 2,500 years.
Traditional systems of medicine also exist in other East and South Asian countries,
including Japan (where the traditional herbal medicine is called Kampo) and Korea. Some
of these systems have been influenced by TCM and are similar to it in some ways, but
each has developed distinctive features of its own.

Technology

Chinese have developed and invented a lot of tools. Their famous discoveries and
inventions were compass, papermaking, gunpowder, and printing tools that became
known in the West only by the end of the Middle Ages. They also invented other tools
like iron plough, wheelbarrow, and propeller, among others. They developed a design
of different models of bridges, invented the first seismological detector, and a dry
dock facility.

the first seismometer

 Was in vented in 132 AD by a Chinese

astronomer, mathematician, engineer, and
inventor named Zhang Heng.

 Wine jar six feet in diameter, with eight

dragons positioned face down along the
outside of the barrel, marking the primary
compass directions

 In each dragon’s mouth was a small

bronze ball. Beneath them are eight bronze
toads, with their broad mouths gaping to
receive the balls.

 When the instrument sensed an incoming seismic wave, one of the balls would
drop and the sound would alert the observers to the earthquake, giving a round
indication of the earthquake’s direction of origin.
Astronomy

The Chinese also made significant records on supernovas, lunar and solar eclipses, and
comets, which were carefully recorded and preserved to understand better the heavenly bodies
and their effects to our world. They observed the heavenly bodies to understand weather
changes and seasons that may affect their daily activities. They used lunar calendars too.

Lunar Calendar

While the Gregorian calendar – which is also

called the Christian or Civil calendar is based
solely on the movements of the Sun and Earth
in relation to one another, the Jewish calendar
also calculates its number of months by the
revolution of the Moon about the Earth. So
really, “lunar calenda”r is a bit of a
misnomer—it’s actually better referred to as
“lunisolar” calendar instead.

It is also approximately 29 ½ days long, which

means that there are 12. 4 lunar months to a
year. Sometimes years in the lunar calendar
are 12 months and sometimes they are 13 momths.

III. MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES

The Middle East is a transcontinental region centered on Western Asia and Egypt. The
corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner. The
term has come into wider usage as a replacement of the term Near
East (as opposed to Far East) beginning in the early 20th century.

The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the
(geopolitical) importance of the region being recognized for millennia.

The Middle East is comprised of Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Bahrain,

Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan,
Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman,Syria, Turkey which are dominantly
occupied by Muslims with the common language of Arabic. The
innovation in the field of science and technology in this part of Asia
began from the spark of the Golden Age of Islam where scholars from
various parts of the world with different cultural backgrounds were
mandated to gather and translate all of the world’s classical knowledge
into the Arabic language. Their proximity to India which was one of the
most brilliant civilizations that time also provided their scholars
knowledge to create innovations and develop new ideas. Unlike Greek
scholars like Aristotle who relied solely on his plain-thought experiments, Muslim
scientists focused on scientific experiments which produced actual facts that are free
from biases and are much more reliable than subjective views. This led to the
development of the scientific method in the Muslim world, and made significant
improvements by using experiments to distinguish between competing scientific theories
set within a generically empirical orientation.

Here are some of the most notable people that gave rise to this civilization:

1. Ibn al-Haytham – regarded as the Father of Optics for his empirical proof of the
intromission theory of light where it was proven that visual perception comes
from something representative of the object (later established to be rays
of light reflected from it) entering the eyes.

2. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi – gave his name to the concept of algorithm
while the term algebra is derived from al-jabr, the beginning title of one of his
 publications. Other than that, he was also the one who formulated the first
systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations (completing the square
method), as well as the concept of cancellation and transposition in solving
algebraic equations.

3. Muslim mathematicians – made several refinements to the Arabic Numeral

System, such as the introduction of the decimal point notation.