Summary Like Egypt, Sumer, and Mesoamerica, ancient China represents a hydraulic civilization-one that maintained its population by diverting rivers to aid in irrigation-and one that developed writing thousands of years ago. Today, we're going to focus on the time of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, a time of great technical innovation. But, before we get to the Song, let's take a tour through the ages and explore key elements of Chinese scientific culture.

• Documentary
• History