Did the Teacup Hinder Chinese Scientific Progress?
Why China never pursued the development of glass
British comedy quiz show, QI (Quite Interesting) on BBC One, once had an episode titled: Tea Cup Changed China’s History. In this episode, the host, Stephen Fry, explains how the Chinese teacup prevented China from having a scientific revolution.
The argument presented goes something like this: Since the Chinese invented porcelain teacups early, they saw no need to invent glass to have something to drink from. Europeans in contrast didn’t have porcelain, but drank wine rather than tea. Glass is not very well suited for hot tea, but very well suited for temperate red and white wine. With glass, you can see the beautiful color of the wine. Thus, Europeans invented glass for their wine drinking habits. Glass led to lens grinding, which led to spectacles, telescopes, microscopes, beakers, and bottles used in chemistry. In short, glass powered the scientific revolution in Europe and China got left out.
