Dr. Matt Marone - 2015 Asian Studies Symposium

"Experiments in Ancient Chinese Science and Technology"

Dr. Matt Marone of Mercer University will demonstrate a number of the activities used in his Ancient Chinese Science and Technology Course. Students in this class re-create several different Chinese inventions or technologies. Each experiment is designed to develop a deeper understanding of the ancient technology while at the same time introducing experimental methods and techniques. Students make paper to understand the cultural and historical value of this ancient invention. Handmade paper is rarely uniform and also serves as a mechanism for introducing the statistical treatment of data. Silk has a wide range of cultural and historical connections but it also serves as a means of discussing the strength of materials in an engineering context. How do soft metals like copper and tin make a hard metal like Bronze with the power of reshaping the ancient world? The answer lies in the periodic table, in the blade of a weapon and the ritual objects of a temple. Thus, each experiment has a twofold purpose of immersing students in an ancient technology while simultaneously teaching them modern experimental analysis. This event will be limited to the first 25 attendees.