Foreword: Hotbed of Invention The Four Major Inventions Are the Four Major Inventions the Most Important? Compass Gunpowder Paper Printing Other Major Inventions (I) Iron and Steel Smelting and Ironware Copper Smelting and Bronze Ware Extraction and Application of Petroleum Discovery and Mining of Coal Pottery and Porcelain Wine and Liquor Sericulture Tea and Tea Culture Other Major Inventions (II) Star Catalogue and Star Atlas Observation of Solar and Lunar Eclipses Surveying of the Meridian Zhang Heng and His Seismograph Guo Shoujing and His Shoushi Calendar The Decimal and Binary Systems Zu Chongzhi and Pi Equal Temperament Other Major Inventions (III) Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture Anesthetic Variolation The Great Wall Grand Canal of China Dujiangyan Irrigation System Miscellaneous Smart Inventions Kite Abacus Weiqi (Go) Hot-Air Balloon Parachute Archery Match Chinese Kung Fu Football Golf Classical Works of Science Appendix: Chronological Table of the Chinese Dynasties