1. Discuss the differences between ancient Greek astronomy and ancient Chinese astronomy.
This is the most objective of the three essay questions, so you can answer it by listing the main points. In simple terms, the differences are as follows:
In terms of theoretical background, ancient Greek astronomy was integrated with cosmology and separated from astrology, whereas ancient Chinese astronomy was separated from cosmology and integrated with astrology;
In terms of purpose, aside from their shared goals such as constructing calendars, ancient Greek astronomy aimed to “save the phenomena,” while ancient Chinese astronomy focused on calculating the Mandate of Heaven for the imperial court;
In terms of content, Greek astronomy was planetary astronomy, holding that the heavens are eternally unchanging and that only the irregular motions of the planets needed to be “saved,” whereas Chinese astronomy, in addition to calculations of planetary motion, mainly included records and explanations of various changes in celestial phenomena;
In terms of method, Greek astronomy was mathematical astronomy (emphasizing deduction over observation), and its mathematical method specifically meant geometric models, whereas Chinese astronomy was politicized, practical, and natural-historical in style, and its mathematical method mainly consisted of algebraic interpolation;
In terms of researchers, Greek astronomy was the open research of free scholars, whereas in China it was monopolized by the imperial court and transmitted as a secret tradition.
One could go into finer detail and raise some specific differences, but the broad points above are enough.
2. Why was modern science able to emerge in Europe (rather than in China or the Islamic world)?
This is an open-ended topic. You can mention the cultural soil of the two Hellenic traditions, the traditions of freedom and the rule of law, economic and social conditions, Renaissance humanism, technical conditions such as mechanical clocks and glass, historical opportunities such as the Age of Discovery, and so on. Of course, most students mainly discussed intellectual and cultural traditions, and many also brought up capitalism; the grading was based mainly on the coherence of the argument, with an impressionistic sense of how well it was organized, and there were no especially necessary points that had to be mentioned. Legal traditions and technical conditions were probably mentioned by very few people, so bringing up these less common angles could earn extra credit. One could also invoke analogies like “why doesn’t a pear tree bear peaches?” to emphasize the local specificity of modern science.
3. Discuss whether “the history of science should be classified as X-level”
Fortunately, Teacher Wu explained this during the exam; otherwise, a large number of students would probably not have understood what “X-level” meant. As things stand, there should not be any serious risk of misunderstanding. Even so, many students still did not fully grasp the point of the question: the point is not to ask students to take a simple “yes or no” position, but to “discuss” the issue itself. Many students immediately rushed to say it should not be classified as X-level, and then went on to list a great many advantages of the history of science. But what this question first requires is a discussion of why the issue was raised in the first place—that is, why someone would say the history of science should be classified as X-level. It must be noted that what the history of science reveals does in fact include certain dark and ugly things. Even if we say that the history of science can be made accessible to children, how exactly to do so is still a problem; it cannot simply be generalized without qualification. This question mainly tests one’s understanding of the content and positioning of the history of science, and in particular requires an explanation of what the potentially “not suitable for minors” elements in the history of science actually are. As for whether one ultimately thinks it should or should not be classified that way, that is not the key issue.
Latest Comments
- gaga2010-07-09 20:00:16 Anonymous 10.8.0.2
Peking University actually came up with such a wildly off-base exam question, sigh
- Gu Chi2010-07-09 22:12:48
Could you please give me two off-base questions so I can get a feel for them?
Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.
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