Science and civilisation in China / by Joseph Needham ; with the collaboration of Wang Ling

Volume 4: Physics and physical technology. Part II, Mechanical engineeringVOLUMEN 4. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. a. Introduction. I. The name and concept of engineer. 2. Artisans and engineers in feudal-bureraucratic society. 3. Traditions of the artisanate. 4. Tools and materials. b. Basic mechanical principles. 1. Levers, hinges and linkwork. 2. Wheels and gear-wheels, pedals and paddles. 3. Pulleys, driving-belts and chain-drives. 4. Crank and eccentric motion. 5. Scres, worms and helicoidal vanes. 6. Springs and spring mechanisms. 7. Conduits, pipes and siphons. 8. Valves, bellows, pumps and fans. c. Mechanicals toys. d. Types of machines described in Chinese works. 1. The nature of the Chinese engineering literature. 2. Eotechnic machinery, popwered by man and animals. i. Pounding, grinding and milling. ii. Sifting and pressing. 3. Paleotechnic machinery; Jesuit novelty and redundance. i. A provisional balance-sheet of transmissions. ii. The steam-turbine in the Forbidden City. 4. The "Cardan" suspension. 5. The locksmith's art. e. Vehicles for land transport. 1. Chariots in ancient China. 2. Wagons, camp-mills and hand-carts. 3. The wheelbarrow and the sailing-carriage. 4. The hodometer. 5. The south-pointing carriage. f. Power-sources and their employment, animal traction. 1. Efficient harness and its history. i. Throat-and-girth harness in Sumer and Shang. ii. The first rationalistaion; breast-strap harness in Cchu and Han. iii. Comparative estimates. iv. Radiation of the inventions. v. The second rationalisation; collar-harness in Shu and Wei. 2. Animal power and human labour. g. Hydraulic engineering, Water-raising machinery. 1. The swape. 2. The well-windlass. 3. The scoop-wheel. 4. The square-pallet chain-pump and the paternoster pump. 5. The saqiya. 6. The noria. h. Power-sources and their employment, Water flow and descent. 1. Soppon tilt-hammers. 2. Water-wheels in West and East. 3. The metallurgical blowing-engines of the Han and Sung. 4. Reciprocatin motion and the steam-engine's lineage. 5. Hydraulic trip-hammers in the Han and Chin. 6. Water-mills from the Han onwards. 7. The problem of the inventions and their spread. i. Wheels ex-aqueous and ad-aqueous; ship-mill and paddle-boat in East and West. j. Clockwork; six hidden centuries. 1. Su Tzu-Jung and his astronomical clock. 2. Clockwork in and before the Northern Sung. 3. The pre-history of Chinese clockwork. 4. From Su Tzu-Jung to Li Ma-Tou; clocks and their makers. 5. Korean orreries, Asiatick sing-songs, and the mechanisation of Mt Meru. 6. Clockwork and inter-cultural relations. k. Vertical and horizontal mountings; the revolving bookcase in East and West. l. Power-sources and their employment, Wind force; the windmill in East and West. m. The pre-history of aeronautical engineering. 1. Legendary material. 2. Thaumaturgical artisans. 3. The kite and its origins. 4. The helicopter top; Ko Hung and George Cayley on the "hard wind" and "rotary wafts". 5. The birth of aerodynamics. 6. The parachute in East and West. 7. The ballon in East and Weste. n. Conclussion