The New World: And Science

Abstract

The year 1500 was a major turning point in human history. In the year 1500 CE China was technologically more advanced than Europe in most arenas, including paper and printing, not to mention gunpowder and the compass. Chinese society was as hierarchical and bureaucratic, but far more introverted, than Western society. The demise of the Silk Road was probably triggered by the rise of the Ottoman Turks, who managed to capture Constantinople and defeat the Byzantine Empire in a few years. Soon after, they started to tax and otherwise interfere with the caravans on the traditional “silk road” to China. The western demand for spices, dyes and raw silk did not abate. New trade routes became highly desirable.