About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 58. Chapters: Konrad Lorenz, Shen Kuo, List of zoologists by author abbreviation, Su Song, Al-Jahiz, Edward Pritchard Gee, August David Krohn, Goodluck Jonathan, Kevin Richardson, Edward Donovan, Karl Shuker, Michel Luc, Agustin Stahl, Richard William Timm, Richard Freeman, Greg Patent, David Duffy, Jovan Had i, George Edward Dobson, Israel Aharoni, Patricia Bergquist, Felipe Poey, Galen Rathbun, Robert T. Paine, Camill Heller, Brian Fisher, Edward Frederick Kelaart, Alex Hibbert, Alexander Bunge, George Frederick Leycester Marshall, Michael H. Robinson, Erich Klinghammer, W adys aw Kulczy ski, Adolph Eduard Grube, Anastasio Alfaro, Gerhard Haszprunar, Brian D. Farrell, Dale Clayton. Excerpt: Shen Kuo or Shen Gua (Chinese: pinyin: Sh n Kuo; Wade-Giles: Shen K'uo) (1031-1095), style name Cunzhong ( ) and pseudonym Mengqi (now usually given as Mengxi) Weng ( ), was a polymathic ancient Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Excelling in many fields of study and statecraft, he was a mathematician, astronomer, meteorologist, geologist, zoologist, botanist, pharmacologist, agronomist, archaeologist, ethnographer, cartographer, encyclopedist, general, diplomat, hydraulic engineer, inventor, academy chancellor, finance minister, governmental state inspector, poet, and musician. He was the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy in the Song court, as well as an Assistant Minister of Imperial Hospitality. At court his political allegiance was to the Reformist faction known as the New Policies Group, headed by Chancellor Wang Anshi (1021-1086). In his Dream Pool Essays (; Mengxi Bitan) of 1088, Shen was the first to describe the magnetic needle compass, which would be used for navigation (first described in Europe by Alexander Neckam in 1187). Shen discovered the concept of true...
