关键词: 科技创新, 科学史, 技术史, 欧洲中心主义, 欧洲中心论, Technology innovation, Science history, Technology history, Eurocentrist, Eurocentrism

Abstract: Eurocentrism has strong influence in the field of science and technology history. The primary objective of this study is to establish quantitative evidence that will enhance a better understanding of the statistical characters of scientific and technological innovations in world history, and to re-examine some conclusions made by scholars with Eurocentrism perspectives. In order to achieve this goal, we examined both scientific and technological achievements in human history and established a database from which statistical evidences are drawn for the purpose of comparison among countries and regions. Our findings are quite incisive and informative. First, our findings indicate that people in North America and Europe have contributed about 81.7 percent of the total inventories of science and technological achievements in human history. The balance of 18.3 percent can be traced to all other regions that have been neglected by earlier scholars. This rectifies earlier claims that Europe and North America’s achievements account for 97 percent of the global innovations. Second, based on the cross-section analysis of the historical achievements in sciences and technology, our findings show that prior to 1500 AD, Europe’s and Middle East’s innovations were basically at par, but these achievements surpass those from other regions like China and India/Pakistan. These partially support the perceptions put forward by some anti-Eurocentric scholars.