李约瑟难题一解

An Answer to Joseph Needham's Puzzle

西方科学的显著特点是察异,探寻一事物所特有的区别于其他事物的本质规定性;中国科学的显著特点是察同,探寻自然界万事万物共同具有的基本规律(气阴阳五行规律)。以察异为特点的科学是累积性的,并且是按指数规律发展的。以察同为特点的科学则是相对静止的。东西方科学的不同特点是中国科学在早期比较发达,而西方科学却能后来居上的根本原因。传统技术以实践为基础,从实践经验中概括总结出技术。中国传统社会人口众多,生产规模庞大,是其技术发达的基本原因。近现代技术的发展,科学的指导作用日益明显。西方在科学上的领先地位,必然导致技术上的领先地位。

The western science is characterized by the scrutinisation for differencesto search for the prescriptive nature of one thing as distinguished from another;however the Chinese science,by the scrutinisation for similaritiesto prusue the laws that govern everything in the universe(e.g.laws of Qi,Yinyang,and five elements).The differenceexamination orientated science is accumulative and develops in accordance with the law of index.However,the similarityexamination oriented science is relatively static.The differences in the features between western science and eastern science account for the fact that the Chinese science flourished in the early period but was surpassed by western science in the modern times.The traditional technology is based on practice,that is to say,it is the generalization of accumulated experiences from practice.The large population of the Chinese traditional society facilitates the technological progress with the largescale production under the centralized feudal rules.This is the essential reason for the technical advancement in the Chinese traditional society.Science plays more and more important role in the modern technological development.With the West in the lead in science,the West has gradually outstripped China in technology.