Ancient Chinese Contributions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Ancient Chinese Contributions - Essay Example China can rightfully lay claim to numerous scientific discoveries and technological inventions which greatly enriched human civilization as these paved the way for global progress. This brief paper is a discussion and exposition of such ancient Chinese contributions to civilization. Chinese civilization had existed uninterrupted for several millennia and due to this fact, it was able to develop to such an extent that the ancient Chinese acquired or accumulated enough knowledge about the natural world and perceptive enough to make the right connections to make scientific discoveries based on their theories and hypothesis; the other useful connection was to make practical use of these discoveries through technological inventions and applications so as to make life easier for everybody. Theoretical knowledge was applied to everyday use and for this, world civilization has a lot to be thankful for because the discoveries and inventions of the ancient Chinese served as foundation for further scientific and technological progress to take place. Among the more prominent Chinese contributions are the compass, gunpowder, printing, paper, coal mining, pottery and porcelain, use of petroleum, sericulture, star atlas, and meridian. Based on the partial list mentioned above, the four most important contributions are the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing. These four inventions contributed a lot to the progress and advance of world civilization as the use of these four discoveries spread worldwide. The four inventions can be considered as the most ingenious and innovative considering the great amount of knowledge, insight, and thinking that went into these four inventions and discoveries. Compass - its discovery was crucial to ship navigation and the eventual discovery of vast new lands and territories beyond the great oceans of the world. Although the compass was