Today we look at the Four Great Inventions, the 四大发明, that Lord Francis Bacon hailed as having done more than anything else to transform completely the modern world and mark it off from antiquity and the Middle Ages.  Today we examine the four great inventions of the compass, gunpowder, paper and printing.

 

Terms used in this episode

Si Da Fa Ming  四大发明  The Four Great Inventions

Zhi Nan 指南 Compass

Shen Kuo 沈括 Writer of the Dream Pool Essays （梦溪笔谈）

Wujing Zongyao 武警总要 Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques, first described gunpowder

Bi Sheng 毕升 Credited with inventing moveable type

Cai Lun 蔡伦 Credited with inventing paper during the Han Dynasty.