The Way and the Word: Science and Medicine in Early China and Greece

Lloyd and Sivin have been engaged for over a decade on a project of which this book is the first full-length joint publication. They aim to explore the 'beginnings of science and medicine in early China and Greece ' [xi], covering the six centuries 400 BC to 200 AD; and they do this by delineating them through comparison of what they call the 'cultural manifold' of science in each civilization. By 'cultural manifold' they mean the continuum of thinkers' concepts, social goals, professional milieu, mode of discourse, and political associations [xixii, 3]. They focus on two questions, that of the circumstances of the origins of inquiry about the natural world, and that of the paths that those inquiries opened. Their intended readers are those curious about Greek or Chinese science and their respective manifolds, or those who seek a novel viewpoint thereon. The authors do not expect deep or extensive knowledge of Greek or Chinese social or intellectual history, although Lloyd learned Chinese for the purpose of the project.