Discusses the achievements of the ancient Chinese in astronomy, medicine, science, and engineering, as well as such influential Chinese inventions as paper, printing, gunpowder, and the compass. "A dazzling parade of such unexpected items as the compass, stirrup, clock, and seismograph." -- Horn Book
This 1982 book is out of date on a lot of things by now. The writing style is frustrating because it is so unstructured. It's as if the writer's current topic reminded him of something else so he starts writing about that and then that reminds him of something else and the book continues free associating this way all the way through, jumping back and forth centuries in time as well as from continent to continent.