When you mention the inventors in ancient China, you may think of Cai Lun, Bi Sheng, Zhang Heng and so on, but there is a man who has a high attainments in the field of invention and created many articles that have important influence on later generations. But when it comes to his name, people tend to be attracted by his achievements in academic thought and ignore his ability in invention and creation. This man is Mozi.
So, what are Mozi's great inventions?
Superphysicist
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a hundred schools of thought contended. There are Confucianists who advocate benevolent governance, thinkers who advocate the rule of law, and Taoists who advocate inaction. Mozi is a representative of Mohism who advocates universal love and inviolability.
Mozi's ancestral home was Lu, and later he came to Song to become a doctor. According to what we say now, Mozi was born in a very low poor peasant class, but later he developed Mohist thought and gathered a group of warriors who were good at offensive and defensive display.
Since you have to know how to fight and defend, you have to know how to make mechanical weapons, so you need to use some physical knowledge here. Speaking of physics, one of Mozi's greatest discoveries is that he proved that light travels along a straight line through pinhole imaging experiments.
This is recorded in Mohist classics:
"Book scene, in the afternoon, book scene. Let's talk about it at last. "
On this basis, Mozi studied the relationship between light and shadow by studying the shadow when the object was moving, and then he thought that if the light source was in a luminous state, the object could produce umbra and secondary shadow. Later, he further studied plane mirror, concave mirror, convex mirror and so on.
In addition, the theory of lever principle is recorded in Mohist classics, and Mozi was discovered more than 200 years earlier than the West. The lever theory also provided a solid theoretical preparation for Mozi's invention and creation of specific military equipment.
Mozi saved the Song Dynasty not only by lobbying, but also by powerful weapons and equipment.
Speaking of Mozi, a well-known story is "Mozi saved the Song Dynasty". This happened around 440 BC. At that time, the increasingly powerful Chu State wanted to attack the Song State. Mozi was very anxious when he heard the news. He wanted to dissuade the King of Chu.
First, he found Lu Ban who contributed to the King of Chu. Lu Ban was also a famous inventor at that time. In order to help Chu attack, he made many weapons.
Lu Ban took Mozi to see the king of Chu. In order to make the king of Chu give up the idea of attacking completely, Mozi directly simulated the war with Lu Ban. Mozi defeated Luban in the simulated war with his own invented weapon and successfully organized an attack on Chu.
So, what weapon did Mozi take out?
The first weapon is called wooden kite, which can be understood as our plane today. Mozi spent many years designing a wooden kite. It can not only fly in the sky, but also carry a soldier. In this way, the soldiers sitting on the wooden kite can clearly observe the situation on the ground, which can be said to be a very good aerial reconnaissance equipment.
Other weapons are very suitable for organizing attacks. Although Mozi did not advocate waging war, and most of the military instruments he designed were defensive, there were still several offensive weapons, which had good application results.
One of them is called a crossbow car, which stands on the city wall and can be equipped with 60 arrows and crossbows that can be fired continuously. At the same time, in order to attack the city more conveniently, Mozi also designed a special tank car: the driver. This kind of car is driven by manpower and can be pushed outside the city wall. Soldiers can load tools to destroy the city wall. There is also a chariot called a registered car, which is equivalent to an upgraded version of the catapult. It is made of iron, very strong, and can throw stones dozens of meters high. Have a strong fighting capacity in the war.
Contributions in mathematics and logic
In addition to physical and mechanical creations, Mozi also has many research achievements in mathematics. He put forward the definition of "multiple" and discovered the concept of "zero" and the meaning of "bit value" in mathematics.
Not only that, he also expanded his logical thought according to mathematics. Therefore, Mozi's logic theory system, Ingenism in India and logic in ancient Greece are called the three major logics in the world. Joseph Needham, a famous sinologist, once said that Mozi's scientific achievements surpassed those of ancient Greece.
Chairman Mao also spoke highly of Mozi's thought and creation. He thinks that Mozi is a better saint than Confucius, because he is not only rich in theoretical thoughts, but also good at practice, and he has personally made many practical articles and constantly practiced his own thoughts in physics and mathematics.
This is why our country launched the world's first quantum science experimental satellite in 20 16 and named it Mozi to commemorate Mozi's achievements in the scientific field.
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