LLOYD, Geoffrey E. R. Comparing Greek and Chinese Science. Dynamis, 2000, 20, 491-509.

Abstract

This paper explores the different ways in which science, medicine and mathematics developed in ancient Greece and China and relates the differences to the different ideological and institutional factors at work. It suggests connections, for instance, between Greek political and legal experience and the Greek interest in the formal evaluation of arguments, including the definition and practice of strict axiomatic-deductive demonstration. The Chinese were less interested in such second-order questions, but consistently gave greater institutional support for inquiry in such areas as astronomy, seen as important for the welfare of the state.