What major scientific inventions in Chinese history have influenced the world?

Nitrogen fixation (1909) Nitrogen fixation is the process by which molecular nitrogen is reduced to ammonia and other nitrogen-containing compounds, and its most important application is the synthesis of ammonia. Due to the invention of the method of artificial synthesis of ammonia in 1909, the German chemist Fritz Haber, the father of chemistry, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918. Ammonia is one of the important inorganic chemical products and occupies an important position in the national economy.

In addition to ammonia, which can be used directly as fertilizer, nitrogen fertilizers used in agriculture, such as urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium chloride and various nitrogen-containing compound fertilizers, are all made of ammonia. But there are two sides to the coin, and ammonia is also a raw material for nitric acid and explosives needed by the military industry. During the First World War, foreign heads of state and military experts were **:

Due to the shortage of ammonia-containing compounds, the war will end in a year. But at that time, Germany had a monopoly on ammonia synthesis technology, making it self-sufficient in nitrogenous compounds, thus prolonging the First World War, and Haber's success also brought disaster, war and death to the common people, which he probably did not expect.

Steam engine (1712) Early industrial steam engines were built by Thomas Seville in 1698, Thomas Newcomen in 1712 and James Watt in 1769. The advent of the steam engine led to the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The development of the steam engine reached its peak at the beginning of the 20th century and became the most important prime mover in the world.

It has the advantages of constant torque, variable speed, reversibility, reliable operation, convenient manufacturing and maintenance, etc., so it has been widely used in various fields such as power stations, factories, locomotives and ships, especially in the first place to become the only prime mover at that time. Later, it gradually gave way to internal combustion engines and steam turbines.

Penicillin (Penicillin) (1928) Penicillin was the first antibiotic capable of human disease. In 1928, British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovered the world's first antibiotic - penicillin. Around 1941, Howard Flory, a physicist at the University of Oxford, and Money, a biochemist, realized the isolation and purification of penicillin, and discovered its curative effect on infectious diseases, for which Fleming, Flory, and Chin jointly won the 1945 Nobel Prize.

However, although antibiotics were first discovered in 1928, they were not widely used until after World War II. At the time, they became the first panacea that was previously considered a terminal illness.

Internal Combustion Engine (Late 19th Century)The internal combustion engine mixes liquid or gaseous fuel with air and feeds it directly into a high-pressure combustion chamber inside the cylinder, and the mixture burns to generate power. The advent of the internal combustion engine brought the steam engine into the old paper of history.

Typography (15th and 30s) 10 out of 12 experts mentioned printing, and 5 of them ranked printing in the top three. Some call the invention of the printing press a turning point when knowledge began to be freely copied and quickly showed its vitality.

The printing press hastened the spread of ideas; The adoption of gunpowder destroyed the ideological yoke of the European Middle Ages. The compass made it possible for Europe to discover the Americas and to sail around the world. Paper facilitates the recording and reading of words and speeds up the spread of ideas.

It plays a role in promoting the dissemination, exchange and development of culture.

Provide material support for the destruction of the feudal fortress by the bourgeoisie.

Lay a material foundation for the opening of new shipping routes and round-the-world voyages.

In short, it accelerated the advent of modern society.

Papermaking, compass, gunpowder, printing.

See references for details.

The impact of the four major inventions on the world:

1. The invention of papermaking: It provides economic and convenient writing materials for human beings, and sets off a revolution in the carrier of human writing.

2. The invention of engraving printing: it greatly promoted the spread of culture.

3. The invention of the compass: it provided conditions for the navigation activities of European navigators.

4. The invention of gunpowder: The use of gunpowder changed the way of warfare, helped the European bourgeoisie destroy the feudal fortress, and accelerated the historical process of Europe.

Evaluation of the four major inventions.

Engels clearly pointed out in "The German Peasants' War": "A series of inventions have their own more or less important significance, among which the one with glorious historical significance is gunpowder. It has now been established beyond any doubt that gunpowder was transmitted from China to the Arabs through India, and from the Arabs to Europe through Spain, along with gunpowder**.

British sinologist Maddox pointed out: "The inventive genius of the Chinese has long been manifested in many aspects. The three major inventions of the Chinese (nautical compass (Sinan), printing, gunpowder) provided an extraordinary impetus for the development of European civilization. ”

In ancient times, except for the four great inventions: the compass, papermaking, printing and explosives. There are also four recognized inventions of Tongjian: porcelain, traditional Chinese medicine, judging wheels and arguing mahjong tiles, and football.

In modern times, there are U disks, firewalls, and health digging codes.

1. Paper Cai Lun, a eunuch of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Using tree bark, broken fishing nets, rags, hemp and other raw materials to make plant fiber paper suitable for writing. He was named the Marquis of Longting by Emperor He, and was called Cai Hou Paper.

2. Movable type printing Bi Sheng, Northern Song Dynasty Hubei Yingshan cloth clothes. According to Shen Kuo's "Dream Creek Pen Talk", it is engraved on the clay sheet, one word is printed, and it becomes a movable type after being burned hard. It can be printed on ink and paper, and the movable type can be removed after baking, and it can be reused.

3. Loom Huang Daopo, a native of Shanghai at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, was born as a child daughter-in-law. He learned textile technology from Li Min in Yaxian County, Hainan, and returned to his hometown to reform cotton spinning tools, including seeding and churning, cotton vertebral arches, and three-spindle pedal spinning wheels.

4. Hydraulic blower Du Shi, Nanyang Taishou of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The water drain is powered by water, and the leather blower bag is continuously opened and closed through a rolling machine, and the air is sent into the iron-smelting furnace, which is called "Du Shi water drain", the world's earliest hydraulic blower.

5. Mahjong is difficult to test. One illustrates the eunuch Zheng He, enriching the life of sailors who went abroad; Second, it explains that the beginning of Wan Bingji, a metaphor for the heroes of Liangshan; The three said that it originated in Taicang, Jiangsu, and was rewarded with a number of cards. The earliest record of mahjong is the "Mahjong Sutra" of Yang Danian in the Song Dynasty, and the Qing dynasty Chen Shimen was rich and developed.

6, match Northern Qi palace maid. According to Tao Gu's "Qing Yilu", in 577, the Northern Qi Dynasty was attacked on both sides, lacking fire to cook and keep warm, and in despair, a group of poor palace maids magically invented matches and made them of sulfur.

7. The abacus is difficult to test, and it is a calculation plan at the beginning. One said that Liu Hong, an astronomer of the Eastern Han Dynasty, created the "Dry Elephant Calendar" and personally taught it to Xu Yue, and Xu's "Records of Mathematics" recorded the style of the abacus for the first time; Second, Liu Hong learned from the Taoist Mr. Tianmu and taught the method of abacus; The name of the three said abacus was first seen in the Yuan scholar Liu Yin's "Collected Works of Mr. Jingxiu".

8. Small hole imaging Mozi, Doctor Song, representative of the pre-Qin Mo family. Mozi discusses the balance of levers, and does the world's first experiment on the formation of inverted images of small holes, explains the reasons for the inverted images of small holes, and points out the nature of the linear progression of light. This is the first scientific explanation of the linear propagation of light.

9. Compass Shen Kuo, a scientist of the Song Dynasty. Sinan was invented during the Warring States period, and Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Pen Talk" further explained the method of making a compass by magnetizing an iron needle.

Su Song (1020 1101) was a native of Nan'an, Quanzhou (now Fujian). A famous scientist of the Northern Song Dynasty. He presided over the creation of one of the most advanced astronomical clocks at that time——— the water transport instrument elephant platform, which could represent celestial phenomena and keep time.

Su Song's "New Ritual and Elephant Law" introduced in detail the structure of the water transport instrument elephant platform, and Europeans believed that he was the ancestor of the modern astronomical clock.

Jia Xian, a mathematician in the Northern Song Dynasty, created the "Jia Xian Triangle". His most famous mathematical achievement was the creation of a numerical schema, the "Origin Diagram of the Prescription Method", which is actually a binomial theorem coefficient table with exponents as positive integers, known as the Chinese Pascal triangle

Zhang Heng invented the geokinetic sphere and the armillary sphere.

Cai Lun improved papermaking.

Guo Shoujing invented the Jianyi and formulated the time calendar.

Bi Sheng invented movable type printing.

Hua Tuo invented hemp boiling.

Li Shizhen compiled a compendium of materia medica.

Su Song invented the astronomical clock and the water transport instrument image table.

Zhang Heng, geokinetic instrument, armillary sphere.

Cai Lun, Improved Papermaking.

Bi Sheng, movable type printing.

The achievements and influence of the four great inventions in ancient China are very far-reaching, first of all, the compass played an important role in the opening of the new blue navigation route, which promoted the development of science and technology. Secondly, papermaking contributed to the development of European culture and the dissemination of information. In addition, gunpowder promoted the development of human civilization and the victory of the bourgeois revolution.

In addition, printing promoted the emancipation of the human mind and contributed to the Renaissance movement.

Among the four major inventions, the compass is used to distinguish the direction, in ancient times the name was Sinan, which was used for divination earlier, and was used to see feng shui in spring and determine the direction. The invention of the compass promoted the progress of mankind, as well as the development of science, technology and civilization. The compass also played an important role in the opening of new shipping routes, that is, the great geographical discoveries.

Among the four great inventions, papermaking is also a great contribution of the ancient Chinese people to the world. Moreover, Cai Lun's papermaking process is more refined, and it has since become an independent process. In the early days, the dissemination of information was limited to a certain extent, and after the invention of papermaking, paper became the main material for people to disseminate information, and papermaking contributed to the development of European culture.

Gunpowder was invented and created by ancient alchemists in China, and was later widely used in military life and art, and later spread to Europe through the Mongols and Arabs, which promoted the development of gunpowder in Europe and promoted the victory of the bourgeois class.

Printing is one of the four great inventions of the working people in ancient China. Block printing was invented in the Tang Dynasty and was widely used in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Bi Sheng invented movable type printing.

Although movable type printing appeared in the Song Dynasty, it was not widely used, but still commonly used woodblock printing.

Before the invention of printing, information was mainly disseminated by hand, but after the invention of printing, it greatly saved time and manpower, improved the quality of printing, and was also conducive to the inheritance of cultural knowledge. At the same time, for the Renaissance movement and the Reformation, the printing press played a crucial role, which can be said to promote the emancipation of the human mind.

The above are the achievements and influences of the four great inventions of ancient China.

1. Compass.

China is recognized as the world that invented the compass. The invention of the compass is the result of the understanding of the magnetism of objects by the ancient working people of our country in the long-term practice. As a result of productive labor, people came into contact with magnetite and began to understand the properties of magnetism.

People first discovered the property of magnets to attract iron, and later discovered the directivity of magnets.

2. Papermaking.

Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of China and an outstanding invention in the history of human civilization. China is the first country in the world to raise silkworms and weave silk. In ancient China, the working people of the superior silkworm cocoons drew silk and weaved silk, and the remaining evil cocoons and disease cocoons were made of silk cotton by bleaching method.

After the bleaching is completed, there will be some residues left on the mat.

3. Gunpowder. Gunpowder was invented by ancient Chinese alchemists in the Sui and Tang dynasties, more than 1,000 years ago. The study of gunpowder began with the ancient Taoist alchemy, the ancients refined the elixir in order to seek immortality, the purpose and motivation of alchemy were advanced, but its experimental methods still had merit, and finally led to the invention of gunpowder.

4. Printing.

The earliest engraving print found is a single-page edition of the Dharani Sutra written in Indian Sanskrit, printed on linen paper, published between 650 and 670 and unearthed in 1974 from a Tang dynasty mausoleum near Xi'an. In 1966, archaeologists discovered a miniature copy of the Sutra of Hail Qi Dharani in South Korea, which contained the Zetian script issued by the Tang Dynasty empress Wu Zetian (c. 690-705).

5. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" written by Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty is the highest achievement of ancient pharmacology.

Compendium of Materia Medica, Materia Medica, 52 volumes. Li Shizhen (Dongbi) of the Ming Dynasty wrote from the 31st year of Jiajing (1552) to the 6th year of Wanli (1578), and the manuscript was changed three times. This book adopts the style of "Outline with Outline", so it is named "Outline".

It is based on the "Evidence Class Materia Medica" to make changes. The preface (volume) is equivalent to a general treatise, describing the main books and medicinal properties of Materia Medica. Volume 1 "Materia Medica of the Past Dynasties" introduces 41 major materia medica before the Ming Dynasty.

As an ancient civilization with a long history, China has created many great inventions in the world, which not only made important contributions to China's development at that time, but also had a profound impact on the science and technology and culture of other countries in the world. Here are some of China's great inventions:

Compass: The compass is one of the most important inventions of ancient China, first appearing in the Han Dynasty of China. It made it easier for people to determine the direction of navigation and travel, and had a huge impact on the promotion of human oceans** and civilization exchanges.

Gunpowder: Gunpowder is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, which first appeared in the Tang Dynasty. The invention and application of gunpowder revolutionized the way warfare and defense were conducted, while also providing the basis for cultural events such as fireworks and pyrotechnic displays.

Papermaking: Papermaking is one of the great inventions of ancient China, which first appeared in the Han Dynasty. It made writing and reading more popular, promoted the development of culture and education, and also had a profound impact on the production and use of paper in the world.

Printing: Printing is one of the great inventions of ancient China, first appearing in the Tang Dynasty. It makes the printing of books easier, faster and more standardized, and promotes the dissemination of culture and the development of education.

Finger around soft silk: Silk is one of the important inventions of ancient China, first appeared in the Shang Dynasty. It is a soft, shiny, tough, and breathable fabric that is loved and admired all over the world.

These inventions have not only made important contributions to China's development, but also had a profound impact on the science and technology and culture of other countries in the world, and have become one of the important symbols of the progress of human civilization.

In fact, there are such as: dumplings, tofu, ceramics, etc.