Science in the ancient world

<h2 id="ancient-near-east">Ancient Near East</h2>
<h3>Mesopotamia</h3>
Further information: <a href="/facts/Babylonian_mathematics/9lN3d6ML">Babylonian mathematics</a> and <a href="/facts/Babylonian_medicine/J4jjdUua">Babylonian medicine</a>

Around 3500 BC, in <a href="/facts/Sumer/bxRz093q">Sumer</a> (now <a href="/facts/Iraq/pqYSFJw8">Iraq</a>), the <a href="/facts/Mesopotamia/f0mmbhTK">Mesopotamian</a> people began preserving some observations of the <a href="/facts/Cosmos/VTPCNeNQ">cosmos</a> with extremely thorough numerical data. 

<h4>Mathematics</h4>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Babylonian_mathematics/9lN3d6ML">Babylonian mathematics</a>
<a href="/facts/Pythagorean_theorem/Lh6x2Kr5">Pythagorean theorem</a> has demonstrated evidence of ancient writing forms. It was recorded in the 18th century BC on the Mesopotamian <a href="/facts/Cuneiform/MgIQoGu8">cuneiform</a> tablet known as <a href="/facts/Plimpton_322/bfIIEP8k">Plimpton 322</a>. The columns of numbers in the tablet generates several <a href="/facts/Pythagorean_triple/I3IJgWhf">Pythagorean triples</a> such as (3, 4, 5) and (5, 12, 13).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a>

<h4>Astronomy</h4>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Babylonian_astronomy/qv816vfo">Babylonian astronomy</a> and <a href="/facts/Babylonian_astrology/pLGf7al2">Babylonian astrology</a>
Babylonian astronomy was "the first and highly successful attempt at giving a refined mathematical description of astronomical phenomena."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> According to the historian <a href="/facts/Asger_Aaboe/SNnorWIs">Asger Aaboe</a>, "all subsequent varieties of scientific astronomy, in the <a href="/facts/Hellenistic_astronomy/ehwqftGz">Hellenistic world</a>, <a href="/facts/Indian_astronomy/q9pgvuCm">in India</a>, <a href="/facts/Astronomy_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world/hw8HxDHz">in Islam</a>, and in <a href="/facts/European_science_in_the_Middle_Ages/k1IgE4WS">the West</a>—if not indeed all subsequent endeavour in the <a href="/facts/Exact_sciences/EJlphUT9">exact sciences</a>—depend upon Babylonian astronomy in decisive and fundamental ways".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a>
<a href="/facts/Scribe/E6Kq8CJG">Scribes</a> recorded observations of the cosmos such as the motions of the stars, the planets, and the Moon on <a href="/facts/Clay_tablet/9mbScsAn">clay tablets</a>. The cuneiform style of writing revealed that astronomers used mathematical calculations to observe the motions of the planets.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a> Astronomical periods identified by Mesopotamian scientists remain widely used in Western calendars: the <a href="/facts/Tropical_year/ASBLWNMY">solar year</a> and the <a href="/facts/Lunar_month/2l4tadsA">lunar month</a>. Using data, Mesopotamians developed arithmetical methods to compute the changing length of daylight during the year, and to predict the <a href="/facts/Lunar_phase/0JalCYrE">Lunar phases</a> and planets along with eclipses of the <a href="/facts/Solar_eclipse/2XsCFG1a">Sun</a> and <a href="/facts/Lunar_eclipse/cGSjtf1A">Moon</a>. 
Only a few astronomers' names are known, such as <a href="/facts/Kidinnu/7sj5NcIE">Kidinnu</a>, a <a href="/facts/Chaldea/T03FU73T">Chaldean</a> astronomer and mathematician. Kiddinu's value for the solar year is in use for modern calendars. <a href="/facts/Hipparchus/pHld5PfE">Hipparchus</a> used this data to calculate the <a href="/facts/Axial_precession/NQ79x3m3">precession</a> of the Earth's axis. Fifteen hundred years after Kiddinu, <a href="/facts/Al-Battani/mzsBlt1T">Al-Battani</a> used the collected data and improved Hipparchus' value for the precession. Al-Batani's value, 54.5 <a href="/facts/Arc-seconds/tybs6YGC">arc-seconds</a> per year, compares well with the current value of 49.8 arc-seconds per year (26,000 years for Earth's axis to round the circle of <a href="/facts/Nutation/YDogrCoD">nutation</a>). Astronomy and astrology were considered to be the same thing, as evidenced by the practice of this science in Babylonia by priests. Mesopotamian astronomy became more astrology-based later in the civilisation, studying the stars in terms of <a href="/facts/Horoscope/rbLvwTP2">horoscopes</a> and <a href="/facts/Omen/rJCGaIQ6">omens</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a>

<h4>Archaeology</h4>
Following the <a href="/facts/Late_Bronze_Age_collapse/gk2FrXGv">Late Bronze Age collapse</a>, the practice of various sciences continued in post–<a href="/facts/Iron_Age/mpQYShI0">Iron Age</a> Mesopotamia. For instance, in the nascent <a href="/facts/History_of_archaeology/14RmIEuT">history of archaeology</a>, king <a href="/facts/Nabonidus/57Mmd7aB">Nabonidus</a> of the <a href="/facts/Neo-Babylonian_Empire/GfIPHmzs">Neo-Babylonian Empire</a> was a pioneer in the <a href="/facts/Post-excavation_analysis/Vzs1sCBu">analysis of artifacts</a>. Foundation deposits of king <a href="/facts/Naram-Sin_of_Akkad/IJGwhsRy">Naram-Sin</a> of the <a href="/facts/Akkadian_Empire/kWx9zFF6">Akkadian Empire</a> dated circa 2200 BC were discovered and analyzed by Nabonidus around the 550 BC.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> These deposits belonged to the temples of <a href="/facts/Shamash/WyyXl31T">Shamash</a> the sun god and the warrior goddess <a href="/facts/Annunitum/7z9EtH7V">Annunitum</a> in <a href="/facts/Sippar/RhUouSAp">Sippar</a>, and Naram-Sin's temple to the moon god in <a href="/facts/Harran/48waxMhn">Harran</a>, which were restored by Nabonidus.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a> Nabonidus was the first known figure in history to make an attempt at <a href="/facts/Chronological_dating/xYYqj6qK">dating archaeological artifacts</a> found at excavated sites,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> though his estimates were inaccurate by hundreds of years.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a>

<h3>Egypt</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egyptian_technology/3XMfEmyb">Ancient Egyptian technology</a>
Further information: <a href="/facts/Egyptian_astronomy/vjf3oPHq">Egyptian astronomy</a>
Significant advances in <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egypt/BDsEGK4g">ancient Egypt</a> included astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. Egypt was also a centre of <a href="/facts/Alchemy/CEx0U1Em">alchemical</a> research for much of the Western world.

<h4>Architecture, engineering, and mathematics</h4>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egyptian_architecture/8rzEXDJL">Ancient Egyptian architecture</a>, <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egyptian_agriculture/Lx5CFSIx">Ancient Egyptian agriculture</a>, and <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egyptian_mathematics/Uuz7Cms7">Ancient Egyptian mathematics</a>
Ancient Egyptian <a href="/facts/Geometry/wTQf5ffQ">geometry</a> was a necessary outgrowth of <a href="/facts/Surveying/qchGcnRC">surveying</a> to preserve the layout and ownership of farmland, which was flooded annually by the <a href="/facts/Nile/vGoXVUFH">Nile</a>. The <a href="/facts/Pythagorean_triple/I3IJgWhf">3–4–5 right triangle</a> and other rules of thumb served to represent rectilinear structures, including <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egyptian_architecture/8rzEXDJL">architecture</a> such as <a href="/facts/Post_and_lintel/qkFbJoa6">post and lintel</a> structures.

<h4>Writing</h4>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Egyptian_hieroglyphs/qXRpprLe">Egyptian hieroglyphs</a>
<a href="/facts/Egyptian_hieroglyphs/qXRpprLe">Egyptian hieroglyphs</a> served as the basis for the <a href="/facts/Proto-Sinaitic_script/aqPygGcT">Proto-Sinaitic script</a>, the ancestor of the <a href="/facts/Phoenician_alphabet/Vr4smuYg">Phoenician alphabet</a> from which the later <a href="/facts/Hebrew_alphabet/qQStmr5u">Hebrew</a>, <a href="/facts/Greek_alphabet/1cHwB8Dg">Greek</a>, <a href="/facts/Latin_alphabet/pqWVHpBz">Latin</a>, <a href="/facts/Arabic_alphabet/hCA1a0xq">Arabic</a>, and <a href="/facts/Cyrillic_script/0btN3oWC">Cyrillic</a> alphabets were derived. The city of <a href="/facts/Alexandria/hdg1twWA">Alexandria</a> retained preeminence with <a href="/facts/Library_of_Alexandria/Y8xCxS1n">its library</a>, which was damaged by fire when it fell under Roman rule,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a> being destroyed before 642.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a> With it, a large amount of antique literature and knowledge was lost.

<h4>Medicine</h4>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egyptian_medicine/rEsYfP0n">Ancient Egyptian medicine</a>

The <a href="/facts/Edwin_Smith_Papyrus/PgRdY3P9">Edwin Smith Papyrus</a> is one of the first medical documents still extant, and perhaps the earliest document that attempts to describe and analyse the brain: it might be seen as the very beginnings of modern <a href="/facts/Neuroscience/o5RV8Cas">neuroscience</a>. However, while ancient Egyptian medicine had some effective practices, it was not without its ineffective and sometimes harmful practices. Medical historians believe that ancient Egyptian pharmacology was largely ineffective.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16">16</a> Nevertheless, it applies the following components: examination, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis, to the treatment of disease,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17">17</a> which display strong parallels to the basic <a href="/facts/Empirical_method/A6cy8Rcy">empirical method</a> of science and according to G. E. R. Lloyd<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18">18</a> played a significant role in the development of this methodology. The <a href="/facts/Ebers_papyrus/7KWeHwXs">Ebers papyrus</a> (c. 1550 BC) also contains evidence of traditional <a href="/facts/Empiricism/f68IpCeE">empiricism</a>.
According to a paper published by Michael D. Parkins, 72% of 260 medical prescriptions in the Hearst Papyrus had no curative elements.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19">19</a>[better source needed] According to Parkins, sewage pharmacology first began in ancient Egypt and was continued through the Middle Ages. Practices such as applying cow dung to wounds, ear piercing and tattooing, and chronic ear infections were important factors in developing tetanus.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20">20</a> Frank J. Snoek wrote that Egyptian medicine used fly specks, lizard blood, swine teeth, and other such remedies which he believes could have been harmful.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21">21</a>[better source needed]

<h3>Persia</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Science_and_technology_in_Iran/Iqm5WvyB">Science and technology in Iran</a>
Further information: <a href="/facts/Science_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world/ajn0zRSc">Science in the medieval Islamic world</a>, <a href="/facts/Persian_astronomy/KL33BQxb">Persian astronomy</a>, and <a href="/facts/Ancient_Iranian_medicine/jpFmlrmN">Ancient Iranian medicine</a>
In the <a href="/facts/Sasanian_Empire/JvbRevkA">Sasanian Empire</a>, great attention was given to mathematics and astronomy. The <a href="/facts/Academy_of_Gondishapur/2IRVaLBe">Academy of Gondishapur</a> is a prominent example in this regard.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22">22</a> Astronomical tables date to this period, and Sassanid observatories were later imitated by <a href="/facts/Astronomy_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world/hw8HxDHz">Muslim astronomers</a> and astrologers of the <a href="/facts/Islamic_Golden_Age/yAeG2rBA">Islamic Golden Age</a>. In the mid-Sassanid era, an influx of knowledge came to Persia from the West in the form of views and traditions of Greece which, following the spread of Christianity, accompanied <a href="/facts/Syriac_language/mLhEtdSW">Syriac language</a>. In the <a href="/facts/Early_Middle_Ages/9FrTq3rt">Early Middle Ages</a>, Persia became a stronghold of Islamic science. After the establishment of <a href="/facts/Umayyad_Caliphate/gdW8JwoK">Umayyad</a> and <a href="/facts/Abbasid_Caliphate/mPeLAbXt">Abbasid</a> states, many Iranian scholars were sent to the capitals of these Islamic dynasties.

<h2 id="greco-roman-world">Greco-Roman world</h2>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Science_in_classical_antiquity/N0FtHsl4">Science in classical antiquity</a>The legacy of <a href="/facts/Classical_antiquity/JBq8vEX9">classical antiquity</a> included substantial advances in factual knowledge, especially in anatomy, zoology, botany, mineralogy, geography, mathematics and astronomy. Scholars advanced their awareness of the importance of certain scientific problems, especially those related to the problem of change and its causes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23">23</a> In the <a href="/facts/Hellenistic_period/q6BgQsaF">Hellenistic period</a>, scholars frequently employed the principles developed in earlier Greek thought: the application of mathematics and deliberate empirical research.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24">24</a>
<h3>Scientific practices</h3>
In classical antiquity, the inquiry into the workings of the universe took place both in investigations aimed at practical goals, such as calendar-making and medicine, and in abstract investigations known as <a href="/facts/Natural_philosophy/CUAsDWdk">natural philosophy</a>. The ancient people who are considered the first scientists may have thought of themselves as "natural philosophers", as practitioners of a skilled profession, or as followers of a religious tradition.
Scientific thought in classical antiquity became tangible beginning in the 6th century BC in the <a href="/facts/Pre-Socratic_philosophy/AMBQt1TU">pre-Socratic philosophy</a> of <a href="/facts/Thales_of_Miletus/zLoJUcTa">Thales</a> and <a href="/facts/Pythagoras/8oe8UgCj">Pythagoras</a>. Thales, the "father of science", was the first to postulate non-supernatural explanations for natural phenomena such as <a href="/facts/Lightning/dLTuxz8n">lightning</a> and <a href="/facts/Earthquake/NGjIzagw">earthquake</a>. Pythagoras founded the <a href="/facts/Pythagoreanism/25BjMN2z">Pythagorean school</a>, which investigated mathematics and was the first to postulate that the Earth is spherical.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25">25</a>
In about 385 BC, <a href="/facts/Plato/jGtT1UD5">Plato</a> founded the <a href="/facts/Platonic_Academy/toUTGq3Y">Academy</a>. <a href="/facts/Aristotle/U2bDlBFW">Aristotle</a>, Plato's student, began the "scientific revolution" of the Hellenistic period culminating in the 3rd and 2nd centuries with scholars such as <a href="/facts/Eratosthenes/ay7Pyfsa">Eratosthenes</a>, <a href="/facts/Euclid/dHpVyL4R">Euclid</a>, <a href="/facts/Aristarchus_of_Samos/cyfJR02u">Aristarchus of Samos</a>, <a href="/facts/Hipparchus/pHld5PfE">Hipparchus</a>, and <a href="/facts/Archimedes/sIeMhSVF">Archimedes</a>. Plato and Aristotle's development of <a href="/facts/Deductive_reasoning/HadA1zWS">deductive reasoning</a> was particularly useful to later scientific inquiry.

<h3>Architecture and engineering</h3>
Further information on Ancient Greece: <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_architecture/2vTuKmR4">Architecture</a> and <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_technology/kclQXMcc">Technology</a>
Further information on Ancient Rome: <a href="/facts/Ancient_Roman_architecture/1wtv6yFU">Architecture</a>, <a href="/facts/Ancient_Roman_technology/mhEB7rUJ">Technology</a>, and <a href="/facts/Ancient_Roman_engineering/Uq8cU5jM">Engineering</a>

<h3>Astronomy</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_astronomy/ehwqftGz">Ancient Greek astronomy</a>

The level of achievement in Hellenistic astronomy and engineering is shown by the <a href="/facts/Antikythera_mechanism/GHqvxCwR">Antikythera mechanism</a>. The astronomer <a href="/facts/Aristarchus_of_Samos/cyfJR02u">Aristarchus of Samos</a> was the first known person to propose a <a href="/facts/Heliocentric_model/4hoCMs7P">heliocentric model</a> of the solar system, while the geographer <a href="/facts/Eratosthenes/ay7Pyfsa">Eratosthenes</a> accurately calculated the <a href="/facts/Circumference_of_the_Earth/1b614Pg1">circumference of the Earth</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26">26</a> <a href="/facts/Hipparchus/pHld5PfE">Hipparchus</a> produced the first systematic <a href="/facts/Star_catalogue/7XwPwSjE">star catalogue</a>. 

<h3>Mathematics</h3>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Greek_mathematics/ealke3z8">Greek mathematics</a> and <a href="/facts/Ancient_Roman_mathematics/18h5rQA5">Ancient Roman mathematics</a>
The mathematician <a href="/facts/Euclid/dHpVyL4R">Euclid</a> laid down the foundations of <a href="/facts/Mathematical_rigour/v23FKfhw">mathematical rigour</a> and introduced the concepts of definition, axiom, theorem and proof still in use today in his <a href="/facts/Euclid%27s_Elements/nPKvCIxs">Elements</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27">27</a> <a href="/facts/Archimedes/sIeMhSVF">Archimedes</a> is credited with using the <a href="/facts/Method_of_exhaustion/jyzkY44y">method of exhaustion</a> to calculate the area under the arc of a <a href="/facts/Parabola/Cweo3wgw">parabola</a> with the <a href="/facts/Series_(mathematics)/yDnlsgIe">summation of an infinite series</a>, and gave a remarkably accurate <a href="/facts/Approximations_of_%CF%80/03SQhgcM">approximation of pi</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:28" href="#fn:28">28</a> He is also known in <a href="/facts/Physics/a7aH2y08">physics</a> for his studies on <a href="/facts/Hydrostatics/GYu6ljQ0">hydrostatics</a> and the principle of the <a href="/facts/Lever/HYDtMuAq">lever</a>.

<h3>Medicine</h3>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_medicine/QwEIau1g">Ancient Greek medicine</a> and <a href="/facts/Medicine_in_ancient_Rome/dVFItamp">Medicine in ancient Rome</a>
In medicine, <a href="/facts/Herophilos/pSd5dwpM">Herophilos</a> was the first to base his conclusions on the dissection of the human body and to describe the <a href="/facts/Nervous_system/CDxRKU2U">nervous system</a>. <a href="/facts/Hippocrates/lXUElFQD">Hippocrates</a> and his followers were the first to describe many diseases and medical conditions. <a href="/facts/Galen/9gDqPdwl">Galen</a> performed many audacious operations—including brain and eye surgeries—that were not tried again for more than a millennia.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:29" href="#fn:29">29</a>

<h3>Mineralogy</h3>
<a href="/facts/Theophrastus/YEeQeInW">Theophrastus</a> wrote some of the earliest descriptions of plants and animals, establishing the first <a href="/facts/Taxonomy_(biology)/Qkg8wuyw">taxonomy</a> and looking at minerals in terms of their properties such as <a href="/facts/Hardness/PtGn6E20">hardness</a>. <a href="/facts/Pliny_the_Elder/grx67ghR">Pliny the Elder</a> produced the encyclopedia <a href="/facts/Natural_History_(Pliny)/bMp2te1A">Natural HIstory</a> in 77 AD. He accurately describes the <a href="/facts/Octahedral/G38q92xW">octahedral</a> shape of the <a href="/facts/Diamond/IBUdnd1y">diamond</a>. His recognition of the importance of <a href="/facts/Crystal/e2R2mk3E">crystal</a> shape is a precursor to modern <a href="/facts/Crystallography/9B5toeqG">crystallography</a>, while mentioning numerous other minerals presages <a href="/facts/Mineralogy/MeIK9lx9">mineralogy</a>. He also recognises that other minerals have characteristic crystal shapes, but in one example, confuses the <a href="/facts/Crystal_habit/x2S1HVVY">crystal habit</a> with the work of <a href="/facts/Lapidary/DAjscsb5">lapidaries</a>. He was also the first to recognise that <a href="/facts/Amber/GHP6h5gx">amber</a> was a fossilized resin from pine trees because he had seen samples with trapped insects within them.
<h2 id="indian-subcontinent">Indian subcontinent</h2>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Science_and_technology_in_ancient_India/BhwzGDTn">Science and technology in ancient India</a> and <a href="/facts/History_of_science_and_technology_on_the_Indian_subcontinent/BhwzGDTn">History of science and technology on the Indian subcontinent</a>

<h3>Mathematics and engineering</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Indian_mathematics/l9f6ke00">Indian mathematics</a>
Excavations at <a href="/facts/Harappa/bKWEUjH0">Harappa</a>, <a href="/facts/Mohenjo-daro/aC8lQMa4">Mohenjo-daro</a> and other sites of the <a href="/facts/Indus_Valley_Civilisation/6xM4aK23">Indus Valley Civilisation</a> (IVC) have uncovered evidence of the use of "practical mathematics". The people of the IVC manufactured bricks whose dimensions were in the proportion 4:2:1, considered favourable for the stability of a brick structure. They used a standardised system of weights based on set ratios, with the unit weight equaling approximately 28 grams (1 oz). They mass-produced weights in regular geometrical shapes, which included <a href="/facts/Hexahedron/UzruYxzd">hexahedra</a>, <a href="/facts/Barrel/ESCAffFw">barrels</a>, <a href="/facts/Cone/2c9GIzYD">cones</a>, and <a href="/facts/Cylinder/0wQPPr3k">cylinders</a>, thereby demonstrating knowledge of basic geometry.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:30" href="#fn:30">30</a> Inhabitants of the IVC also tried to standardise the measurement of length to a high degree of accuracy. They designed the Mohenjo-Daro ruler, whose unit of length (34 millimetres (1.3 in)) was divided into ten equal parts. Bricks manufactured in ancient Mohenjo-Daro often had dimensions that were integral multiples of this unit of length.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:31" href="#fn:31">31</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:32" href="#fn:32">32</a>
The main authors of classical Indian mathematics (400 AD to 1200 AD) were scholars like <a href="/facts/Mah%C4%81v%C4%ABra_(mathematician)/PRePokWx">Mahaviracharya</a>, <a href="/facts/Aryabhata/3L1j5TDm">Aryabhata</a>, <a href="/facts/Brahmagupta/f7uxKXo4">Brahmagupta</a>, and <a href="/facts/Bh%C4%81skara_II/BQlUY9gA">Bhāskara II</a>. Indian mathematicians made early contributions to the study of the <a href="/facts/Decimal/7omfVNIM">decimal system</a>, <a href="/facts/0/4NBRtKHc">zero</a>, <a href="/facts/Negative_number/LzErzCmI">negative numbers</a>, <a href="/facts/Arithmetic/hvHwkbMV">arithmetic</a>, and <a href="/facts/Algebra/nMdqczjo">algebra</a>. <a href="/facts/Trigonometry/K4hfaC6F">Trigonometry</a>, having been introduced to ancient India through Greek works, was further advanced in India. The modern definitions of <a href="/facts/Sine_and_cosine/0UtQ97vu">sine and cosine</a> were developed in India. 
The <a href="/facts/Hindu%E2%80%93Arabic_numeral_system/z73KvotW">Hindu–Arabic numeral system</a> was developed in ancient India and spread to the later <a href="/facts/Islamic_world/n9vVGogr">Islamic world</a> to <a href="/facts/Al-Andalus/JTNmWTzP">Al-Andalus</a> where it was adopted (without the zero) by the French monk Gerbert of Aurillac, who would become <a href="/facts/Pope_Sylvester_II/U3ImP4Hg">Pope Sylvester II</a>. Sylvester spread its usage throughout medieval Europe in the 11th century with the reintroduction of the Greco-Roman <a href="/facts/Abacus/ThMQBsel">abacus</a> calculating tool.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:33" href="#fn:33">33</a> The <a href="/facts/Bakhshali_manuscript/5Xb27h7v">Bakhshali manuscript</a> features negative numbers; it was compiled at an uncertain date between 200 AD and as late as 600 AD,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:34" href="#fn:34">34</a> after which they were used with certainty by Indian mathematician <a href="/facts/Brahmagupta/f7uxKXo4">Brahmagupta</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:35" href="#fn:35">35</a>

<h3>Medicine</h3>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Ayurveda/XCgFAdb3">Ayurveda</a> and <a href="/facts/Siddha_medicine/Cluo11T3">Siddha medicine</a>
<a href="/facts/Mehrgarh/7JfFIqW5">Mehrgarh</a>, a <a href="/facts/Neolithic/wRS0Bnh4">Neolithic</a> IVC site, provides the earliest known evidence for <a href="/facts/In_vivo/kWcWyl6f">in vivo</a> drilling of human teeth, with recovered samples dated to 7000–5500 BC.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:36" href="#fn:36">36</a>
<a href="/facts/Ayurveda/XCgFAdb3">Ayurveda</a> medicine traces its origins to the <a href="/facts/Atharvaveda/21Nq9UIk">Atharvaveda</a> and is connected to <a href="/facts/Hinduism/oxV9YvQh">Hinduism</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:37" href="#fn:37">37</a> The <a href="/facts/Sushruta_Samhita/GPSYEjCs">Sushruta Samhita</a> of <a href="/facts/Sushruta/2Sv4aBev">Sushruta</a> appeared during the first millennium BC.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:38" href="#fn:38">38</a> Ayurvedic practice was flourishing during the time of <a href="/facts/The_Buddha/8UchTM1s">the Buddha</a> (around 520 BC), and in this period ayurvedic practitioners were commonly using <a href="/facts/Mercuric/WlxfoHva">mercuric</a>–<a href="/facts/Sulfur/IK0amTfM">sulphur</a> medicines. An important ayurvedic practitioner of this period was <a href="/facts/Nagarjuna/PQTPm3y2">Nagarjuna</a>. During the regime of <a href="/facts/Chandragupta_II/7rVuJoIn">Chandragupta II</a> (375–415 AD), ayurveda was part of mainstream Indian medical techniques, and continued to be so until the <a href="/facts/Colonial_India/FzUNtytR">Colonial period</a>.

<h3>Astronomy</h3>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Indian_astronomy/q9pgvuCm">Indian astronomy</a> and <a href="/facts/Hindu_astrology/zKz7fjCe">Hindu astrology</a>
Early astronomy in India, as in other cultures, was intertwined with religion.The first textual mention of astronomical concepts comes from the <a href="/facts/Vedas/yQgc8B2x">Vedas</a>. According to Sarma, "One finds in the <a href="/facts/Rigveda/7dyqIlsJ">Rigveda</a> intelligent speculations about the genesis of the universe from nonexistence, the configuration of the universe, the spherical self-supporting Earth, and the year of 360 days divided into 12 equal parts of 30 days each with a periodical intercalary month."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:39" href="#fn:39">39</a>
Classical Indian astronomy documented in literature spans the <a href="/facts/Maurya_Empire/STQagR1r">Maurya Empire</a> (with the <a href="/facts/Vedanga_Jyotisha/kXXdIqHl">Vedanga Jyotisha</a>) to the <a href="/facts/Vijayanagara_Empire/aVcSqnBj">Vijayanagara Empire</a> (with the <a href="/facts/Kerala_school_of_astronomy_and_mathematics/lkJPFMKe">Kerala school</a>). Classical Indian astronomy can be said to begin in the 5th century. <a href="/facts/Aryabhata/3L1j5TDm">Aryabhata</a> produced the <a href="/facts/Aryabhatiya/cFsSkukD">Aryabhatiya</a> and the lost Arya-siddhānta, and <a href="/facts/Var%C4%81hamihira/zgAxCKuR">Varāhamihira</a> wrote the <a href="/facts/Pancha-siddhantika/FcUHocbV">Pancha-siddhantika</a>. Indian astronomy and astrology are based upon <a href="/facts/Sidereal_astrology/vSpoUCnj">sidereal</a> calculations, though a <a href="/facts/Tropical_astrology/vSpoUCnj">tropical</a> system was also used in a few cases.

<h3>Alchemy</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Rasayana/wFvcjNER">Rasayana</a>
See also: <a href="/facts/History_of_metallurgy_in_the_Indian_subcontinent/JoTxm18v">History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent</a>
Alchemy was popular in India.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:40" href="#fn:40">40</a> Indian alchemist and philosopher <a href="/facts/Ka%E1%B9%87%C4%81da/DBk9j8R0">Kaṇāda</a> introduced the concept of anu, which he defined as matter which could not be subdivided. This is analogous to the concept of the <a href="/facts/Atom/FoQ4kGN5">atom</a> in modern science.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:41" href="#fn:41">41</a>

<h3>Linguistics</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/History_of_linguistics/rrmYb5tI">History of linguistics § India</a>
<a href="/facts/Linguistics/oQuamvf2">Linguistics</a> (along with <a href="/facts/Phonology/qWAsvnok">phonology</a> and <a href="/facts/Morphology_(linguistics)/fWkzsYE8">morphology</a>) first arose among Indian grammarians studying <a href="/facts/Sanskrit/ychfjhlx">Sanskrit</a>. <a href="/facts/Hemachandra/TGl9dvyP">Hemachandra</a> wrote <a href="/facts/Formal_grammar/QLxaQNAz">grammars</a> of Sanskrit and <a href="/facts/Prakrit/8X8AUK2y">Prakrit</a>. His Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana included six Prakrit languages.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:42" href="#fn:42">42</a> He produced the only known grammar of <a href="/facts/Apabhra%E1%B9%83%C5%9Ba/sNuowRhC">Apabhraṃśa</a>, illustrating it with the folk literature.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:43" href="#fn:43">43</a> <a href="/facts/P%C4%81%E1%B9%87ini/C2brRvXB">Pāṇini</a>'s Sanskrit grammar contains a particularly detailed description of Sanskrit morphology, phonology, and roots.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:44" href="#fn:44">44</a>

<h2 id="china-and-east-asia">China and East Asia</h2>
Main article: <a href="/facts/History_of_science_and_technology_in_China/JlA3afbj">History of science and technology in China</a>
Further information on science and technology: <a href="/facts/List_of_inventions_and_discoveries_of_Neolithic_China/huAjzgGU">Neolithic</a>, <a href="/facts/Science_and_technology_of_the_Han_dynasty/PyqmqxRd">Han dynasty</a>, <a href="/facts/Science_and_technology_of_the_Tang_dynasty/AuGukuvb">Tang dynasty</a>, <a href="/facts/Science_and_technology_of_the_Tang_dynasty/AuGukuvb">Song dynasty</a>, and <a href="/facts/Science_and_technology_of_the_Yuan_dynasty/WLQLgnnw">Yuan dynasty</a>

<h3>Inventions</h3>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/List_of_Chinese_inventions/UCKUpovB">List of Chinese inventions</a> and <a href="/facts/Four_Great_Inventions/gsYdBBDj">Four Great Inventions</a>
See also: <a href="/facts/List_of_Chinese_discoveries/knUmqzjg">List of Chinese discoveries</a>
In his <a href="/facts/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China/cneHE835">Science and Civilisation in China</a>, <a href="/facts/Joseph_Needham/lC1qJAuI">Joseph Needham</a> outlined China's "Four Great Inventions" (<a href="/facts/Papermaking/XPErFtEk">papermaking</a>, <a href="/facts/Compass/86MaeFXu">compass</a>, <a href="/facts/Printing/ta4QpeDE">printing</a>, and <a href="/facts/Gunpowder/AEcB6HCR">gunpowder</a>). Needham highlighted the <a href="/facts/Han_dynasty/hanfxS9D">Han dynasty</a> in particular as one of the most pivotal eras for Chinese sciences, noting the period's significant advancements in astronomy and calendar-making, the systematic documentation of living organisms in early forms of botany and zoology, and the <a href="/facts/Philosophical_skepticism/xsNp72xg">philosophical skepticism</a> and <a href="/facts/Rationalism/MNk171TG">rationalism</a> of the age embodied in works such as the <a href="/facts/Lunheng/SmsD7dYX">Lunheng</a> by <a href="/facts/Wang_Chong/MyFlTC1H">Wang Chong</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:45" href="#fn:45">45</a>
Concurring with Needham, professors <a href="/facts/Jin_Guantao/qhE7GW0M">Jin Guantao</a>, Fan Hongye, and Liu Qingfeng emphasize the Han dynasty as a unique period for Chinese scientific advancements comparable to the medieval <a href="/facts/Song_dynasty/FxV5bXS5">Song dynasty</a>. They also write that the protoscientific ideas of <a href="/facts/Mohism/vRSuDb5N">Mohism</a> developed during the <a href="/facts/Warring_States_period/8P3avwna">Warring States period</a> could have provided a definitive structure for Chinese science, but was hindered by <a href="/facts/Chinese_theology/tlrsKb4u">Chinese theology</a> and dynastic royal promotion of <a href="/facts/Confucianism/Nlbwgmxw">Confucianism</a> and its literary classics.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:46" href="#fn:46">46</a> Needham and other <a href="/facts/Sinology/5XjbI40A">sinologists</a> indicate that cultural factors prevented Chinese achievements from developing into what might be considered modern science, as the religious and philosophical framework of Chinese intellectuals hampered their efforts to rationalize the laws of nature.

<h3>Engineering</h3>
See also: <a href="/facts/Chinese_architecture/yp3TD41T">Chinese architecture</a>
Greek astronomer <a href="/facts/Eratosthenes/ay7Pyfsa">Eratosthenes</a> is the first known inventor of the <a href="/facts/Armillary_sphere/0H2dIBdu">armillary sphere</a> in 255 BC. It is uncertain when the armillary sphere first appeared in China, though the Western Han astronomer Geng Shouchang was the first in China to add an <a href="/facts/Equatorial_ring/peW10Vzs">equatorial ring</a> to its design in 52 BC, with <a href="/facts/Jia_Kui_(scholar)/xBsMtneq">Jia Kui</a> adding an ecliptic ring in 84 AD, followed by <a href="/facts/Zhang_Heng/jBwoVGQ4">Zhang Heng</a> adding the <a href="/facts/Astronomical_rings/N35uFNNn">horizon and meridian rings</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:47" href="#fn:47">47</a> 
Works by Zhang Heng were highly influential throughout later Chinese history. As a <a href="/facts/Horologist/u8CzMt1a">horologist</a>, Zhang demonstrated the movement of recorded stars and planets by being the first to apply the <a href="/facts/Hydropower/Adx1E5ha">hydropower</a> of <a href="/facts/Water_wheel/7xwQDxrP">water wheels</a> and <a href="/facts/Water_clock/GCgGB46l">water clock</a> timer for <a href="/facts/Power_(physics)/mkaEyRnn">automatically rotating</a> the assembled rings of his <a href="/facts/Armillary_sphere/0H2dIBdu">armillary sphere</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:48" href="#fn:48">48</a> a model that would directly inspire the liquid <a href="/facts/Escapement/8AgmCy7C">escapement</a> in <a href="/facts/Astronomical_clock/8yaTPexw">astronomical clockworks</a> pioneered in the <a href="/facts/Tang_dynasty/FFhmVfwM">Tang dynasty</a> by <a href="/facts/Yi_Xing/2m8mHQws">Yi Xing</a> and used by <a href="/facts/Song_dynasty/FxV5bXS5">Song dynasty</a> scientist <a href="/facts/Su_Song/npEcuVbf">Su Song</a> in building his <a href="/facts/Chain_drive/exQgpatc">chain drive</a> and water-driven astronomical <a href="/facts/Clock_tower/jtdLDPXY">clock tower</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:49" href="#fn:49">49</a> Zhang was not the first in China to utilize the motive power of waterwheels, since they were used in <a href="/facts/Ferrous_metallurgy/XpwtCB0X">ferrous metallurgy</a> by <a href="/facts/Du_Shi/FTC0ISDB">Du Shi</a> to operate the <a href="/facts/Bellows/pNg84XnM">bellows</a> of a <a href="/facts/Blast_furnace/DJzUB2EG">blast furnace</a> to make <a href="/facts/Pig_iron/bxLL2NaR">pig iron</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Cupola_furnace/6HYH6ekk">cupola furnace</a> to make <a href="/facts/Cast_iron/lASt55k2">cast iron</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:50" href="#fn:50">50</a> Zhang invented a <a href="/facts/Seismometer/CCc9vwqf">seismometer</a> device with an <a href="/facts/Inverted_pendulum/4knRtpQX">inverted pendulum</a> that detected the <a href="/facts/Cardinal_direction/rbcPTkbJ">cardinal direction</a> of <a href="/facts/Seismology/Lony1LYX">distant earthquakes</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:51" href="#fn:51">51</a> It is unclear if Zhang invented or simply improved the designs of the <a href="/facts/Odometer/SQ0cGdcy">odometer</a> cart for measuring traveled distances and the non-magnetic <a href="/facts/South-pointing_chariot/WV0sqhoH">south-pointing chariot</a> that used <a href="/facts/Differential_(mechanical_device)/ecdB4NMK">differential gears</a> to constantly point southward <a href="/facts/History_of_navigation/cQ3aU2cK">for navigation</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:52" href="#fn:52">52</a> though <a href="/facts/Three_Kingdoms/VPwdBTMA">Three Kingdoms</a> era engineer <a href="/facts/Ma_Jun_(mechanical_engineer)/lk9xE58o">Ma Jun</a> created a successful model of the chariot.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:53" href="#fn:53">53</a>
The odometer cart, depicted in Eastern Han art, was most likely invented in Western Han China by <a href="/facts/Luoxia_Hong/zjwEExNB">Luoxia Hong</a> around 110 BC and separately by the Greeks (either <a href="/facts/Archimedes/sIeMhSVF">Archimedes</a> in the 3rd century BC or <a href="/facts/Hero_of_Alexandria/z1fSvztI">Hero of Alexandria</a> in the 1st century AD).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:54" href="#fn:54">54</a>

<h3>Cartography</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Cartography_of_China/2IHYg6ax">Cartography of China</a>

In cartography, <a href="/facts/Qin_dynasty/TeBU8Nh3">Qin</a> maps dating to the 4th century BC have been discovered and the <a href="/facts/Jin_dynasty_(266%E2%80%93420)/prdhqA8X">Western Jin dynasty</a> official <a href="/facts/Pei_Xiu/m2q1DxkA">Pei Xiu</a> is the first known Chinese cartographer to have used a geometric <a href="/facts/Grid_reference/YyhuUx2f">grid reference</a> that allowed for measurements on a <a href="/facts/Scale_(map)/nw0ytBdk">graduated scale</a> and for <a href="/facts/Topography/SS8Bx4t9">topographical</a> <a href="/facts/Elevation/h2d0u9nd">elevation</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:55" href="#fn:55">55</a> though this might have been based on a rectangular grid system in maps made by Zhang Heng that are now lost.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:56" href="#fn:56">56</a>

<h3>Mathematics</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Chinese_mathematics/naFkyWeW">Chinese mathematics</a>
In regards to mathematics, <a href="/facts/The_Nine_Chapters_on_the_Mathematical_Art/INGLo2Cm">The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art</a>, compiled in its entirety by 179 AD during the Eastern Han, is perhaps also the first text to utilize <a href="/facts/Negative_number/LzErzCmI">negative numbers</a>. These were symbolized by <a href="/facts/Counting_rods/lg4P6zoG">counting rods</a> in a slanted position, while red rods symbolizing negative numbers versus black rods that symbolize <a href="/facts/Positive_numbers/VFXU56H9">positive numbers</a> may date back to the Western Han period.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:57" href="#fn:57">57</a>
Zhang Heng approximated <a href="/facts/Pi/vC0UBj1q">pi</a> as 3.162 using the <a href="/facts/Square_root/AfrzfBdQ">square root</a> of 10 (with an 8:5 ratio of the volume of a cube to an inscribed sphere),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:58" href="#fn:58">58</a> though this was less accurate than the earlier <a href="/facts/Liu_Xin_(scholar)/oFDw43go">Liu Xin</a> who calculated it as 3.154 using an unknown method.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:59" href="#fn:59">59</a> Zhang's calculation was improved upon by Three Kingdoms–era mathematician Liu Heng in his 263 AD commentary on <a href="/facts/The_Nine_Chapters_on_the_Mathematical_Art/INGLo2Cm">The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art</a>, providing a <a href="/facts/Liu_Hui%27s_%CF%80_algorithm/XWNMYrGv">pi algorithm</a> with a value of 3.14159,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:60" href="#fn:60">60</a> while <a href="/facts/Liu_Song_dynasty/mzzUX6Uh">Liu Song</a> and <a href="/facts/Southern_Qi/DC9d7Ggp">Southern Qi</a>–era mathematician <a href="/facts/Zu_Chongzhi/gqfBj1n1">Zu Chongzhi</a> reached a <a href="/facts/Mil%C3%BC/t6YpRPgW">value of 3.141592</a>, the most accurate figure Chinese would achieve before exposure to Western mathematics.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:61" href="#fn:61">61</a> 

<h3>Astronomy</h3>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Chinese_astronomy/o84DLtYR">Chinese astronomy</a> and <a href="/facts/Chinese_calendar/jKKh7mCz">Chinese calendar</a>
Early Chinese astronomy provides an example of the exhaustive documentation of the natural world and observable universe that often preoccupied <a href="/facts/Scholar-official/Jtw4hjyU">Chinese scholars</a>. Chinese star names are mentioned in <a href="/facts/Oracle_bone_inscriptions/xj9TSlNq">oracle bone inscriptions</a> of the <a href="/facts/Shang_dynasty/6JYKH4wP">Shang dynasty</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:62" href="#fn:62">62</a> Lists of stars along the <a href="/facts/Ecliptic/cJxXDDDW">ecliptic</a> in the Chinese <a href="/facts/Twenty-Eight_Mansions/bV7QGwg2">Twenty-Eight Mansions</a> were provided on <a href="/facts/Lacquerware/jbq1PpLy">lacquerware</a> of the 433 BC <a href="/facts/Tomb_of_Marquis_Yi_of_Zeng/SQaA5m0x">Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng</a> and in the <a href="/facts/L%C3%BCshi_Chunqiu/fScvIS51">Lüshi Chunqiu</a> encyclopedia of <a href="/facts/Qin_(state)/m2gNbCq7">Qin</a> statesman <a href="/facts/L%C3%BC_Buwei/2X0qKYAr">Lü Buwei</a>, but it was not until the Han dynasty that full <a href="/facts/Star_catalogue/7XwPwSjE">star catalogues</a> were published that listed all stars in the observable celestial sphere.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:63" href="#fn:63">63</a> The <a href="/facts/Mawangdui_Silk_Texts/bIjACBua">Mawangdui Silk Texts</a>, interred within a <a href="/facts/Western_Han/hanfxS9D">Western Han</a> tomb in 168 BC, provide writings and ink illustrations of <a href="/facts/Chinese_star_maps/UmzSHXSl">Chinese star maps</a> showing <a href="/facts/Chinese_constellations/YSGjkXQI">Chinese constellations</a> as well as <a href="/facts/Comet/w34utQCd">comets</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:64" href="#fn:64">64</a> The Warring States–era astronomers <a href="/facts/Shi_Shen/YweG8SI3">Shi Shen</a> and <a href="/facts/Gan_De/6n68Q7KL">Gan De</a> are traditionally thought to have published star catalogues in the 4th century BC,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:65" href="#fn:65">65</a> but it was the star catalogue of <a href="/facts/Sima_Qian/sjCNSloA">Sima Qian</a> (145–86 BC) in his "Book of Celestial Offices" (天官書; Tianguan shu) in the <a href="/facts/Records_of_the_Grand_Historian/S8CJ0at1">Records of the Grand Historian</a> that provided the model for all later Chinese star catalogues.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:66" href="#fn:66">66</a> Chinese constellations were later adopted in medieval Korean astronomy and Japanese astronomy.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:67" href="#fn:67">67</a> Building upon the star catalogue of Sima Qian that featured 90 constellations,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:68" href="#fn:68">68</a> the star catalogue of Zhang Heng published in 120 AD featured 124 constellations.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:69" href="#fn:69">69</a>
Nascent scientific ideas were established during the late <a href="/facts/Zhou_dynasty/70beuGpa">Zhou dynasty</a> and proliferated in the Han dynasty. Much like the earlier Aristotle in Greece, Wang Chong accurately described the <a href="/facts/Water_cycle/wALHdKjJ">water cycle</a> of Earth but was dismissed by his contemporaries.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:70" href="#fn:70">70</a> However, Wang (similar to the Roman <a href="/facts/Lucretius/Wsx9wpyh">Lucretius</a>) inaccurately criticized the then-mainstream Han Chinese hypotheses that the Sun and Moon are spherical and that the Moon is illuminated by the reflection of sunlight—the correct hypotheses being advocated by astronomer and music theorist <a href="/facts/Jing_Fang/SfL11hAw">Jing Fang</a> and expanded upon by the polymath scientist and inventor <a href="/facts/Zhang_Heng/jBwoVGQ4">Zhang Heng</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:71" href="#fn:71">71</a> Zhang theorized that the <a href="/facts/Celestial_sphere/TYAtXgor">celestial sphere</a> was round and structured like an egg with the Earth as its yolk, a <a href="/facts/Geocentric_model/yIc6na3w">geocentric model</a> that was largely accepted in the contemporary Greco-Roman world.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:72" href="#fn:72">72</a>

<h3>Writing and linguistics</h3>
Analytical approaches were also applied to writing itself. Though the <a href="/facts/Erya/D74ncvp6">Erya</a> of the Warring States period provides a basic dictionary, the first analytical <a href="/facts/Chinese_dictionary/o17pggb1">Chinese dictionary</a> to explain and dissect the <a href="/facts/Logogram/wWYAITGc">logographic</a> Chinese written characters, with 9,353 characters listed and categorized by <a href="/facts/Chinese_character_radicals/VzphA4Rc">radicals</a>, was the <a href="/facts/Shuowen_Jiezi/zQgPXDMw">Shuowen Jiezi</a> composed by the <a href="/facts/Eastern_Han/hanfxS9D">Eastern Han</a> <a href="/facts/Philology/5u0xzd5g">philologist</a> and politician <a href="/facts/Xu_Shen/gE3cLuRK">Xu Shen</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:73" href="#fn:73">73</a>

<h3>Medicine</h3>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Traditional_Asian_medicine/TAx1qP4P">Traditional Asian medicine</a>, <a href="/facts/Traditional_Chinese_medicine/51rSRXua">Traditional Chinese medicine</a>, and <a href="/facts/Chinese_herbology/JF2XKnhH">Chinese herbology</a>See also: <a href="/facts/Chinese_alchemy/o1tMsQXE">Chinese alchemy</a>
A seminal work of traditional Chinese medicine was the <a href="/facts/Huangdi_Neijing/K98gDouv">Huangdi Neijing</a> (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) compiled between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, which viewed the human body's organs and tissues (<a href="/facts/Zangfu/t9BI6q8C">zangfu</a>) through the lens of the metaphysical <a href="/facts/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy)/52qaWtTv">five phases</a> and <a href="/facts/Yin_and_yang/b0YQXM7U">yin and yang</a>. The Huangdi Neijing also stated a belief in two circulatory channels of <a href="/facts/Qi/cMj34xNM">qi</a> vital energy.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:74" href="#fn:74">74</a> Physicians of the Han dynasty believed that <a href="/facts/Pulse_diagnosis/HNcBxVlq">pulse diagnosis</a> could be used to determine which organs in the body emitted qi energy, and therefore the ailments suffered by patients.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:75" href="#fn:75">75</a> The Huangdi Neijing is the first known Chinese text to describe the use of <a href="/facts/Acupuncture/7wxdsmUL">acupuncture</a>, while golden acupuncture needles have been discovered in the tomb of <a href="/facts/Liu_Sheng,_Prince_of_Zhongshan/pVLotkSk">Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan</a> (d. 113 BC) and stone-carved artworks of the Eastern Han period depict the practice.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:76" href="#fn:76">76</a> The Huangdi Neijing is also the first known text to describe <a href="/facts/Diabetes/2xeHXbsI">diabetes</a> and link it to the excessive consumption of sweet and fatty foods.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:77" href="#fn:77">77</a> 
In surgery, Han texts offered practical advice for certain procedures such as <a href="/facts/Clinical_lancing/feWC8Tfy">clinical lancing</a> of <a href="/facts/Abscess/BW3TH8kb">abscesses</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:78" href="#fn:78">78</a> The first known physician in China to describe the use <a href="/facts/Anesthesia/b3MKVn8E">anesthesia</a> for patients undergoing surgery was the Eastern Han physician <a href="/facts/Hua_Tuo/aP6DNXUK">Hua Tuo</a>, who utilized his knowledge of Chinese herbology based in the Huangdi Neijing to create an ointment that <a href="/facts/History_of_wound_care/WLajvvWe">healed surgical wounds within a month</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:79" href="#fn:79">79</a> One of his surgical procedures was <a href="/facts/Intact_dilation_and_extraction/I5otjLL2">the removal</a> of a dead <a href="/facts/Fetus/evocHd0Y">fetus</a> from the womb of a woman whom he diagnosed and cured of her ailments.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:80" href="#fn:80">80</a> Hua's contemporary physician and pharmacologist <a href="/facts/Zhang_Zhongjing/VQutTIMG">Zhang Zhongjing</a> preserved much of the medical knowledge known in China by the Eastern Han period in his major work <a href="/facts/Shanghan_Lun/xujA74Sz">Shanghan Lun</a> (Treatise on Cold Injury and Miscellaneous Disorders) as well as the <a href="/facts/Jingui_Yaol%C3%BCe/ogzfuF8C">Jingui Yaolüe</a> (Essential Medical Treasures of the Golden Chamber ).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:81" href="#fn:81">81</a> 
Outside the major canon of Chinese medicine established during the Han period, modern archaeology has revealed previous Chinese discoveries in medicine. The <a href="/facts/Shuihudi_Qin_bamboo_texts/o13jRGQK">Shuihudi Qin bamboo texts</a>, dated to the 3rd century BC, provide some of the earliest known descriptions of the symptoms of <a href="/facts/Leprosy/FSjTpMEB">leprosy</a> (predating the Roman author <a href="/facts/Aulus_Cornelius_Celsus/USXyDvQC">Aulus Cornelius Celsus</a> and perhaps also the Indian <a href="/facts/Sushruta_Samhita/GPSYEjCs">Sushruta Samhita</a>, the oldest version of which is indeterminable).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:82" href="#fn:82">82</a> The <a href="/facts/Mawangdui/8R9nfsx8">Mawangdui</a> silk texts of the 2nd century BC provide illustrated diagrams with textual captions for exercises in <a href="/facts/Calisthenics/6y23hN8b">calisthenics</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:83" href="#fn:83">83</a>

<h2 id="pre-columbian-mesoamerica">Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica</h2>
Further information: <a href="/facts/Ancient_American_engineering/L1w0pK2j">Ancient American engineering</a>, <a href="/facts/Maya_architecture/PKmCdd2Y">Maya architecture</a>, <a href="/facts/Maya_medicine/06zWPuEr">Maya medicine</a>, <a href="/facts/Aztec_medicine/1WvNhaNb">Aztec medicine</a>, and <a href="/facts/Aztec_architecture/oVrDNzWz">Aztec architecture</a>
<h3>Writing</h3>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Zapotec_script/SGQJgooK">Zapotec script</a>, <a href="/facts/Olmec_hieroglyphs/IUJtFP59">Olmec hieroglyphs</a>, and <a href="/facts/Maya_script/MYVpESKV">Maya script</a>
During the <a href="/facts/Mesoamerican_chronology/8xNnpP70">Middle Formative Period</a> (c. 900 BC – c. 300 BC) of <a href="/facts/Pre-Columbian_Mesoamerica/qleMW0RG">Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica</a>, either the script of the <a href="/facts/Zapotec_civilization/IHLeD9F8">Zapotec civilization</a> or the script of the <a href="/facts/Olmec_civilization/5saF7yjT">Olmec civilization</a> (with the <a href="/facts/Cascajal_Block/t3yzl6bD">Cascajal Block</a> being perhaps the earliest evidence) represent the earliest full writing systems of the Americas.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:84" href="#fn:84">84</a> 
The Maya script, developed by the <a href="/facts/Maya_civilization/JMynpRSR">Maya civilization</a> between 400–200 BC during its <a href="/facts/Preclassic_Maya/TNAFc4yN">Preclassic period</a>, was rooted in <a href="/facts/Epi-Olmec_script/zr985qP2">the Olmec</a> and Zapotec writing systems, and became widespread in use by 100 BC.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:85" href="#fn:85">85</a> The <a href="/facts/Classic_Maya_language/EETedMe9">Classic Maya language</a> was built on the shared heritage of the Olmecs by developing the most sophisticated systems of writing, astronomy, calendrical science, and mathematics among urbanized Mesoamerican peoples.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:86" href="#fn:86">86</a>

<h3>Mathematics</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Maya_numerals/PvbWtCnl">Maya numerals</a>
The Maya developed a <a href="/facts/Positional_numeral_system/31DECoN4">positional numeral system</a> with a <a href="/facts/Vigesimal/zvzFVBsL">base of 20</a> that included the use of <a href="/facts/Zero/4NBRtKHc">zero</a> for constructing their calendars, with individual symbolic characters for numbers 1 through 19.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:87" href="#fn:87">87</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:88" href="#fn:88">88</a>

<h3>Astronomy</h3>
Main articles: <a href="/facts/Maya_astronomy/aCu8wnq4">Maya astronomy</a>, <a href="/facts/Maya_calendar/VNqrYVjH">Maya calendar</a>, and <a href="/facts/Mesoamerican_calendars/0xXjSdlR">Mesoamerican calendars</a>
The Zapotec created the first known astronomical calendar in Mesoamerica, though this was possibly under heavy influence by the Olmecs.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:89" href="#fn:89">89</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:90" href="#fn:90">90</a> 
Maya writing contains easily discernible calendar dates in the form of <a href="/facts/Logogram/wWYAITGc">logograms</a> representing numbers, <a href="/facts/Coefficient/5Hwq2Wuq">coefficients</a>, and calendar periods amounting to 20 days (within 360-day years) and even 20 years for tracking social, religious, political, and economic events.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:91" href="#fn:91">91</a>

<h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2>
<ul><li>Inventions (Pocket Guides). Publisher: DK CHILDREN; Pocket edition (March 15, 1995). <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 1-56458-889-0. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-56458-889-0</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Aaboe/SNnorWIs">Aaboe</a>, Asger. Episodes from the Early History of Astronomy. Springer, 2001.</li>
<li>Chaney, Eric (May 2016). <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/chaney/files/paper.pdf">"Religion and the Rise and Fall of Islamic Science"</a> (PDF).</li>
<li>Evans, James. The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.</li>
<li>Faruqi, Yasmeen (2006). "Contributions of Islamic scholars to the scientific enterprise". International Education Journal. 7 (4): 391–399. <a href="/facts/ERIC_(identifier)/3HNyprsJ">ERIC</a> <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ854295">EJ854295</a>.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Lindberg,_David_C./1W8Atto9">Lindberg, David C.</a> The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, 600 BC. to AD. 1450. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/G._E._R._Lloyd/xmuNReVI">Lloyd, G. E. R.</a> Greek Science after Aristotle. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1973. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-393-00780-4.</li>
<li>Nasser, Mona; Tibi, Aida; Savage-Smith, Emilie (1 February 2009). <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2642865">"Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine: 11th century rules for assessing the effects of drugs"</a>. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 102 (2): 78–80. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1258%2Fjrsm.2008.08k040">10.1258/jrsm.2008.08k040</a>. <a href="/facts/PMC_(identifier)/dX1zMt71">PMC</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2642865">2642865</a>. <a href="/facts/PMID_(identifier)/JlHAvMHt">PMID</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19208873">19208873</a>.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Joseph_Needham/lC1qJAuI">Needham, Joseph</a>, Science and Civilization in China, volume 1. (Cambridge University Press, 1954)</li>
<li>Pedersen, Olaf. Early Physics and Astronomy: A Historical Introduction. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.</li>
<li>Sardar, Marika. “Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World.” Metmuseum.org, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/astr/hd_astr.htm.</li>
<li>Tibi, Selma (April 2006). <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1420785">"Al-Razi and Islamic medicine in the 9th century"</a>. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 99 (4): 206–207. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F014107680609900425">10.1177/014107680609900425</a>. <a href="/facts/PMC_(identifier)/dX1zMt71">PMC</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1420785">1420785</a>. <a href="/facts/PMID_(identifier)/JlHAvMHt">PMID</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16574977">16574977</a>.</li>
<li>Upton, Joseph M. (1933). "A Manuscript of 'The Book of the Fixed Stars' by ʿAbd Ar-Raḥmān Aṣ-Ṣūfī". Metropolitan Museum Studies. 4 (2): 179–197. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1522800">10.2307/1522800</a>. <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1522800">1522800</a>.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">"Mathematics". Science News. 159 (4): 56. 2001-01-27. doi:10.2307/3981737. JSTOR 3981737. <a href="http://doi.wiley.com/10.2307/3981737" target="_blank">http://doi.wiley.com/10.2307/3981737</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Aaboe, A. (1974-05-02). "Scientific astronomy in antiquity". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 276 (1257): 21–42. Bibcode:1974RSPTA.276...21A. doi:10.1098/rsta.1974.0007. ISSN 0080-4614. <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.1974.0007" target="_blank">https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.1974.0007</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">A. Aaboe (May 2, 1974). "Scientific Astronomy in Antiquity". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. 276 (1257): 21–42. Bibcode:1974RSPTA.276...21A. doi:10.1098/rsta.1974.0007. JSTOR 74272. S2CID 122508567. <a href="/wiki/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society" target="_blank">/wiki/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">"The World's Oldest Writing". Archaeology. 69 (3): 26–33. 2016. ISSN 0003-8113. JSTOR 43825139. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43825139" target="_blank">https://www.jstor.org/stable/43825139</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">"Early Astronomy in the University of Michigan Collections | Babylonian and Greek Astronomy". early-astronomy.classics.lsa.umich.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-24. <a href="https://early-astronomy.classics.lsa.umich.edu/ancient_intro.php" target="_blank">https://early-astronomy.classics.lsa.umich.edu/ancient_intro.php</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Silverberg, Robert (1997). Great Adventures in Archaeology. University of Nebraska Press. p. viii. ISBN 978-0-8032-9247-5. <a href="978-0-8032-9247-5" target="_blank">978-0-8032-9247-5</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Kelly, Robert L.; Thomas, David Hurst (2013). Archaeology: Down to Earth. Cengage Learning. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-133-60864-6. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2020. <a href="978-1-133-60864-6" target="_blank">978-1-133-60864-6</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Silverberg, Robert (1997). Great Adventures in Archaeology. University of Nebraska Press. p. viii. ISBN 978-0-8032-9247-5. <a href="978-0-8032-9247-5" target="_blank">978-0-8032-9247-5</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Hirst, K. Kris. "The History of Archaeology Part 1". ThoughtCo.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2014. <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-first-archaeologists-167134" target="_blank">https://www.thoughtco.com/the-first-archaeologists-167134</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Silverberg, Robert (1997). Great Adventures in Archaeology. University of Nebraska Press. p. viii. ISBN 978-0-8032-9247-5. <a href="978-0-8032-9247-5" target="_blank">978-0-8032-9247-5</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">Hirst, K. Kris. "The History of Archaeology Part 1". ThoughtCo.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2014. <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-first-archaeologists-167134" target="_blank">https://www.thoughtco.com/the-first-archaeologists-167134</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Kelly, Robert L.; Thomas, David Hurst (2013). Archaeology: Down to Earth. Cengage Learning. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-133-60864-6. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2020. <a href="978-1-133-60864-6" target="_blank">978-1-133-60864-6</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Plutarch, Life of Caesar 49.3. <a href="/wiki/Plutarch" target="_blank">/wiki/Plutarch</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Abd-el-latif (1203): "the library which 'Amr ibn al-'As burnt with the permission of 'Umar." <a href="/wiki/Abd_al-Latif_al-Baghdadi_(medieval_writer)" target="_blank">/wiki/Abd_al-Latif_al-Baghdadi_(medieval_writer)</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:15">Europe: A History, p 139. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1996. ISBN 0-19-820171-0 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:16">Whitelaw, W. A., ed. (2001). "Proceedings of the 10th Annual History of Medicine Days" (PDF). The University of Calgary. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 7, 2008.< <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080407062556/http://www.hom.ucalgary.ca/Dayspapers2001.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20080407062556/http://www.hom.ucalgary.ca/Dayspapers2001.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:17">"Edwin Smith papyrus". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2024-05-03. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edwin-Smith-papyrus" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edwin-Smith-papyrus</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:18">Lloyd, G. E. R. "The development of empirical research", in his Magic, Reason and Experience: Studies in the Origin and Development of Greek Science. <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:19">Whitelaw, W. A., ed. (2001). "Proceedings of the 10th Annual History of Medicine Days" (PDF). The University of Calgary. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 7, 2008.< <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080407062556/http://www.hom.ucalgary.ca/Dayspapers2001.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20080407062556/http://www.hom.ucalgary.ca/Dayspapers2001.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:20">https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/tetanus.pdf <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/tetanus.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/tetanus.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:21">Snoek, F. J. (1 August 2001). "The Mind Matters". Diabetes Spectrum. 14 (3): 116–117. doi:10.2337/diaspect.14.3.116. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2337%2Fdiaspect.14.3.116" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2337%2Fdiaspect.14.3.116</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:22">Bailey, Harold Walter; Gray, Basil; Frye, Richard Nelson (1975). The Cambridge history of Iran. Vol. 4. University of Cambridge. Cambridge, New York; Melbourne: Cambridge university press. p. 396. ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6. <a href="978-0-521-20093-6" target="_blank">978-0-521-20093-6</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:23">G. E. R. Lloyd, Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle, (New York: W. W. Norton, 1970), pp. 144-6. <a href="/wiki/G._E._R._Lloyd" target="_blank">/wiki/G._E._R._Lloyd</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:24">Lloyd (1973), p. 177. <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:25">"Thales of Miletus - Biography". <a href="https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Thales/#:~:text=Thales%20discovered%20how%20to%20obtain,shadow%20are%20equal%20in%20length.&text=Thales%20is%20said%20to%20have,Greeks%20the%20science%20of%20geometry." target="_blank">https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Thales/#:~:text=Thales%20discovered%20how%20to%20obtain,shadow%20are%20equal%20in%20length.&text=Thales%20is%20said%20to%20have,Greeks%20the%20science%20of%20geometry.</a> <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:26">Russo, Lucio (2004). The Forgotten Revolution. Berlin: Springer. pp. 273–277. <a href="/wiki/Lucio_Russo" target="_blank">/wiki/Lucio_Russo</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:27">Boyer, Carl B. (1991). "Euclid of Alexandria". A History of Mathematics (Second ed.). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-54397-7. The Elements of Euclid not only was the earliest major Greek mathematical work to come down to us, but also the most influential textbook of all times. [...] The first printed versions of the Elements appeared at Venice in 1482, one of the very earliest of mathematical books to be set in type; it has been estimated that since then at least a thousand editions have been published. Perhaps no book other than the Bible can boast so many editions, and certainly no mathematical work has had an influence comparable with that of Euclid's Elements. <a href="0-471-54397-7" target="_blank">0-471-54397-7</a> <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:28">O'Connor, J.J.; Robertson, E.F. (February 1996). "A history of calculus". University of St Andrews. Retrieved 2007-08-07. <a href="http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/The_rise_of_calculus.html" target="_blank">http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/The_rise_of_calculus.html</a> <a href="#fnref:28" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:29">Andreas Vesalius (1543). De humani corporis Fabrica, Libri VII (in Latin). Basel, Switzerland: Johannes Oporinus. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2010. <a href="/wiki/Andreas_Vesalius" target="_blank">/wiki/Andreas_Vesalius</a> <a href="#fnref:29" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:30">Sergent, Bernard (1997). Genèse de l'Inde (in French). Paris: Payot. p. 113. ISBN 978-2-228-89116-5. <a href="978-2-228-89116-5" target="_blank">978-2-228-89116-5</a> <a href="#fnref:30" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:31">Coppa, A.; et al. (2006-04-06). "Early Neolithic tradition of dentistry: Flint tips were surprisingly effective for drilling tooth enamel in a prehistoric population". Nature. 440 (7085): 755–6. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..755C. doi:10.1038/440755a. PMID 16598247. S2CID 6787162. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:31" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:32">Bisht, R. S. (1982). "Excavations at Banawali: 1974-77". In Possehl, Gregory L. (ed.). Harappan Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. pp. 113–124. <a href="#fnref:32" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:33">Seife, Charles (2000), Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, New York: Penguin Books, p. 77, Bibcode:2000zbdi.book.....S, ISBN 978-0-670-88457-5 <a href="978-0-670-88457-5" target="_blank">978-0-670-88457-5</a> <a href="#fnref:33" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:34">Teresi, Dick. (2002). Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science–from the Babylonians to the Mayas. New York: Simon and Schuster, pp. 65–66. ISBN 0-684-83718-8. <a href="/wiki/Teresi,_Dick" target="_blank">/wiki/Teresi,_Dick</a> <a href="#fnref:34" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:35">Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3; Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd, p. 90. ISBN 0-521-05801-5. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:35" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:36">Coppa, A.; et al. (6 April 2006). "Early Neolithic tradition of dentistry: Flint tips were surprisingly effective for drilling tooth enamel in a prehistoric population". Nature. 440 (7085): 755–6. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..755C. doi:10.1038/440755a. PMID 16598247. S2CID 6787162. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:36" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:37">Indian medicine has a long history. Its earliest concepts are set out in the sacred writings called the Vedas, especially in the metrical passages of the Atharvaveda, which may date as far back as the 2nd millennium BCE. According to a later writer, the system of medicine called Āyurveda was received by a certain Dhanvantari from Brahma, and Dhanvantari was deified as the god of medicine. In later times, his status was gradually reduced until he was credited with having been an earthly king who died of snakebite. — Underwood & Rhodes (2008) <a href="/wiki/Veda" target="_blank">/wiki/Veda</a> <a href="#fnref:37" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:38">Dwivedi & Dwivedi (2007)[full citation needed][page needed] <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#What_information_to_include" target="_blank">/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#What_information_to_include</a> <a href="#fnref:38" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:39">https://weather.com/en-IN/india/space/news/2020-10-05-world-space-week-ancient-astronomy-in-vedic-post-vedic-literature <a href="https://weather.com/en-IN/india/space/news/2020-10-05-world-space-week-ancient-astronomy-in-vedic-post-vedic-literature" target="_blank">https://weather.com/en-IN/india/space/news/2020-10-05-world-space-week-ancient-astronomy-in-vedic-post-vedic-literature</a> <a href="#fnref:39" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:40">"Alchemy - Indian, Chemistry, Philosophies | Britannica". <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/alchemy/Indian-alchemy" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/topic/alchemy/Indian-alchemy</a> <a href="#fnref:40" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:41">Singh, Bal Ram (2003). "Use of Chemistry to Understand Vedic Knowledge" (PDF). Contemporary Views on Indian Civilization. World Association for Vedic Studies. pp. 388–399. ISBN 978-0-9666386-1-5. <a href="978-0-9666386-1-5" target="_blank">978-0-9666386-1-5</a> <a href="#fnref:41" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:42">"Shri Siddha Hemachandra Shabdanushashanam (Sanskrit Grammar)". 1934. <a href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.313378" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.313378</a> <a href="#fnref:42" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:43">Datta, Amaresh, ed. (1987). "Aacharya Hemachandra Suri". Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-81-260-1803-1. <a href="978-81-260-1803-1" target="_blank">978-81-260-1803-1</a> <a href="#fnref:43" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:44">Cardona, George (1997). Pāṇini: a survey of research (Reprint d. Aufl. 1976 ed.). New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-1494-3. <a href="978-81-208-1494-3" target="_blank">978-81-208-1494-3</a> <a href="#fnref:44" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:45">Needham, Joseph. (1972). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 1, Introductory Orientations. London: Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, p. 111. ISBN 0-521-05799-X. <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Needham" target="_blank">/wiki/Joseph_Needham</a> <a href="#fnref:45" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:46">Jin, Guantao, Fan Hongye, and Liu Qingfeng. (1996). "Historical Changes in the Structure of Science and Technology (Part Two, a Commentary)" in Chinese Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, 165–184, edited by Fan Dainian and Robert S. Cohen, translated by Kathleen Dugan and Jiang Mingshan. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 178–179. ISBN 0-7923-3463-9. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:46" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:47">Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. reprinted: Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd., p. 343; de Crespigny, R. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 CE). Koninklijke Brill. p. 1050. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0. <a href="978-90-04-15605-0" target="_blank">978-90-04-15605-0</a> <a href="#fnref:47" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:48">Morton, W. Scott and Lewis, Charlton M. (2005). China: Its History and Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., p. 70; Loewe, Michael. (1968). Everyday Life in Early Imperial China during the Han Period 202 BC-AD 220. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd.; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, p. 107. <a href="#fnref:48" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:49">Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2: Mechanical Engineering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. reprinted: Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd., pp. 30, 466, 532. <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Needham" target="_blank">/wiki/Joseph_Needham</a> <a href="#fnref:49" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:50">Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2: Mechanical Engineering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. reprinted: Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd., p. 370; Wagner, Donald B. (2001). The State and the Iron Industry in Han China. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Publishing; pp. 75–76. ISBN 87-87062-83-6. <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Needham" target="_blank">/wiki/Joseph_Needham</a> <a href="#fnref:50" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:51">Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2: Mechanical Engineering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. reprinted: Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd., p. 30; Huang, Ray (1997). China: A Macro History. Revised edition. New York: An East Gate Book, M. E. SHARPE Inc., p. 64. ISBN 9781563247316; Wright, David Curtis (2001) The History of China. Westport: Greenwood Press, p. 66. <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Needham" target="_blank">/wiki/Joseph_Needham</a> <a href="#fnref:51" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:52">Yan, Hong-sen (2007). Reconstruction Designs of Lost Ancient Chinese Machinery. History of Mechanism and Machine Science. Vol. 3. p. 128. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6460-9. ISBN 978-1-4020-6459-3.; Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2: Mechanical Engineering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. reprinted: Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd., pp. 40, 281–283; Balchin, Jon. (2003). Science: 100 Scientists Who Changed the World. New York: Enchanted Lion Books, p. 27. ISBN 1-59270-017-9. <a href="978-1-4020-6459-3" target="_blank">978-1-4020-6459-3</a> <a href="#fnref:52" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:53">Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2: Mechanical Engineering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. reprinted: Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd., p. 40. <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Needham" target="_blank">/wiki/Joseph_Needham</a> <a href="#fnref:53" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:54">Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2: Mechanical Engineering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. reprinted: Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd., pp. 281–283 <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Needham" target="_blank">/wiki/Joseph_Needham</a> <a href="#fnref:54" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:55">Hsu, Mei-Ling (1993). "The Qin maps: A clue to later Chinese cartographic development". Imago Mundi. 45: 90, 97. doi:10.1080/03085699308592766. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:55" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:56">Nelson, Howard (1974). "Chinese Maps: An Exhibition at the British Library". The China Quarterly. 58: 359. doi:10.1017/S0305741000011346. S2CID 154338508.; de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, p. 1050. ISBN 90-04-15605-4; Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3; Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd, pp. 106–107, 538–540. ISBN 0-521-05801-5. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:56" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:57">Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3; Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd, pp. 89–91. ISBN 0-521-05801-5. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:57" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:58">Yan, Hong-sen (2007). Reconstruction Designs of Lost Ancient Chinese Machinery. History of Mechanism and Machine Science. Vol. 3. p. 128. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6460-9. ISBN 978-1-4020-6459-3.; Berggren, Lennart; Borwein, Jonathan; Borwein, Peter (2004). Pi: A Source Book. p. 27. doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-4217-6. ISBN 978-1-4419-1915-1.; de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, p. 1050. ISBN 90-04-15605-4. <a href="978-1-4020-6459-3978-1-4419-1915-1" target="_blank">978-1-4020-6459-3978-1-4419-1915-1</a> <a href="#fnref:58" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:59">Arndt, Jörg; Haenel, Christoph (2001). Pi — Unleashed. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. pp. 177–176. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-56735-3. ISBN 978-3-540-66572-4. S2CID 46515097.; Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3; Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd, pp. 99–100. ISBN 0-521-05801-5. <a href="978-3-540-66572-4" target="_blank">978-3-540-66572-4</a> <a href="#fnref:59" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:60">Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3; Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd, pp. 100–101. ISBN 0-521-05801-5. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:60" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:61">Berggren, Lennart; Borwein, Jonathan; Borwein, Peter (2004). Pi: A Source Book. pp. 20, 24–26. doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-4217-6. ISBN 978-1-4419-1915-1. <a href="978-1-4419-1915-1" target="_blank">978-1-4419-1915-1</a> <a href="#fnref:61" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:62">Sun, X.; Kistemaker, J. (1997), The Chinese Sky During the Han: Constellating Stars and Society, Koninklijke Brill, p. 16, Bibcode:1997csdh.book.....S, ISBN 90-04-10737-1 <a href="90-04-10737-1" target="_blank">90-04-10737-1</a> <a href="#fnref:62" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:63">Sun, X.; Kistemaker, J. (1997), The Chinese Sky During the Han: Constellating Stars and Society, Koninklijke Brill, pp. 16–19, Bibcode:1997csdh.book.....S, ISBN 90-04-10737-1 <a href="90-04-10737-1" target="_blank">90-04-10737-1</a> <a href="#fnref:63" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:64">Loewe, Michael. (1994). Divination, Mythology and Monarchy in Han China. Cambridge, New York, and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, p. 61. ISBN 0-521-45466-2. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:64" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:65">Cullen, C. (1980), "Joseph Needham on Chinese Astronomy", Past & Present (87): 46ff, doi:10.1093/past/87.1.39 <a href="/wiki/Past_%26_Present_(journal)" target="_blank">/wiki/Past_%26_Present_(journal)</a> <a href="#fnref:65" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:66">Sun, X.; Kistemaker, J. (1997), The Chinese Sky During the Han: Constellating Stars and Society, Koninklijke Brill, pp. 18–22, Bibcode:1997csdh.book.....S, ISBN 90-04-10737-1 <a href="90-04-10737-1" target="_blank">90-04-10737-1</a> <a href="#fnref:66" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:67">Kanas, N. (2007). Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography. Springer / Praxis Publishing. pp. 40−41. ISBN 978-0-387-71668-8. <a href="978-0-387-71668-8" target="_blank">978-0-387-71668-8</a> <a href="#fnref:67" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:68">Kanas, N. (2007). Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography. Springer / Praxis Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-387-71668-8. <a href="978-0-387-71668-8" target="_blank">978-0-387-71668-8</a> <a href="#fnref:68" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:69">de Crespigny, R. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 CE). Koninklijke Brill. p. 1050. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0. <a href="978-90-04-15605-0" target="_blank">978-90-04-15605-0</a> <a href="#fnref:69" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:70">Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3; Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd, p. 468 ISBN 0-521-05801-5. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:70" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:71">Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3; Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd, pp. 227, 411–414. ISBN 0-521-05801-5. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:71" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:72">Huang, Ray (1997). China: A Macro History. Revised edition. New York: An East Gate Book, M. E. SHARPE Inc., p. 64. ISBN 9781563247316; Balchin, Jon. (2003). Science: 100 Scientists Who Changed the World. New York: Enchanted Lion Books, p. 27. ISBN 1-59270-017-9. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:72" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:73">Shaughnessy, Edward L. (2010), "The Beginnings of Writing in China", in Christopher Woods (ed.), Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond, Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, p. 217, ISBN 978-1-885923-76-9 <a href="978-1-885923-76-9" target="_blank">978-1-885923-76-9</a> <a href="#fnref:73" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:74">Csikszentmihalyi, Mark. (2006). Readings in Han Chinese Thought. Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., pp. 181–182. ISBN 0-87220-710-2. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:74" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:75">Hsu, Elisabeth. (2001). "Pulse diagnostics in the Western Han: how mai and qi determine bing," in Innovations in Chinese Medicine, 51–92. Edited by Elisabeth Hsu. Cambridge, New York, Oakleigh, Madrid, and Cape Town: Cambridge University Press, p. 75. ISBN 0-521-80068-4. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:75" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:76">Omura, Yoshiaki. (2003). Acupuncture Medicine: Its Historical and Clinical Background. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc., pp. 15, 19–22. ISBN 0-486-42850-8. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:76" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:77">Medvei, Victor Cornelius. (1993). The History of Clinical Endocrinology: A Comprehensive Account of Endocrinology from Earliest Times to the Present Day. New York: Pantheon Publishing Group Inc., p. 49. ISBN 1-85070-427-9. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:77" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:78">Hsu, Elisabeth. (2001). "Pulse diagnostics in the Western Han: how mai and qi determine bing," in Innovations in Chinese Medicine, 51–92. Edited by Elisabeth Hsu. Cambridge, New York, Oakleigh, Madrid, and Cape Town: Cambridge University Press, pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-521-80068-4. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:78" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:79">de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, p. 332. ISBN 90-04-15605-4. <a href="/wiki/Rafe_de_Crespigny" target="_blank">/wiki/Rafe_de_Crespigny</a> <a href="#fnref:79" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:80">de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, p. 332. ISBN 90-04-15605-4. <a href="/wiki/Rafe_de_Crespigny" target="_blank">/wiki/Rafe_de_Crespigny</a> <a href="#fnref:80" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:81">de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, p. 1055. ISBN 90-04-15605-4. <a href="/wiki/Rafe_de_Crespigny" target="_blank">/wiki/Rafe_de_Crespigny</a> <a href="#fnref:81" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:82">McLeod, Katrina C. D.; Yates, Robin D. S. (1981). "Forms of Ch'in Law: An Annotated Translation of The Feng-chen shih". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 41 (1): 152–153 & footnote 147. doi:10.2307/2719003. JSTOR 2719003. <a href="/wiki/Robin_D._S._Yates" target="_blank">/wiki/Robin_D._S._Yates</a> <a href="#fnref:82" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:83">Loewe, Michael. (1994). Divination, Mythology and Monarchy in Han China. Cambridge, New York, and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, p. 65. ISBN 0-521-45466-2. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:83" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:84">Palka, Joel W. (2010), "The Development of Maya Writing", in Christopher Woods (ed.), Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond, Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, p. 226, ISBN 978-1-885923-76-9 <a href="978-1-885923-76-9" target="_blank">978-1-885923-76-9</a> <a href="#fnref:84" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:85">Palka, Joel W. (2010), "The Development of Maya Writing", in Christopher Woods (ed.), Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond, Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, pp. 226–227, ISBN 978-1-885923-76-9 <a href="978-1-885923-76-9" target="_blank">978-1-885923-76-9</a> <a href="#fnref:85" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:86">"Mesoamerican civilization | History, Olmec, & Maya | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-10-24. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesoamerican-civilization" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesoamerican-civilization</a> <a href="#fnref:86" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:87">"Numerals and numeral systems | Examples & Symbols | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-10-24. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/numeral" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/science/numeral</a> <a href="#fnref:87" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:88">Palka, Joel W. (2010), "The Development of Maya Writing", in Christopher Woods (ed.), Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond, Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, p. 227, ISBN 978-1-885923-76-9 <a href="978-1-885923-76-9" target="_blank">978-1-885923-76-9</a> <a href="#fnref:88" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:89">"Mesoamerican civilization | History, Olmec, & Maya | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-10-24. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesoamerican-civilization" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesoamerican-civilization</a> <a href="#fnref:89" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:90">Price, T. Douglas; Gary M. Feinman (2005). Images of the Past (Fourth ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-286311-0. p. 321 <a href="0-07-286311-0" target="_blank">0-07-286311-0</a> <a href="#fnref:90" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:91">Palka, Joel W. (2010), "The Development of Maya Writing", in Christopher Woods (ed.), Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond, Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, p. 227, ISBN 978-1-885923-76-9 <a href="978-1-885923-76-9" target="_blank">978-1-885923-76-9</a> <a href="#fnref:91" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Science in the ancient world open-in-new

Science in the ancient world