He studied astronomy intensively and advocated a new calendar that is similar to today’s solar calendar;
In terms of physics, he recorded the principles and various production methods of the compass; he discovered the geomagnetic deflection. The existence of angles was more than 400 years earlier than in Europe; he also expounded the principle of concave mirror imaging; he also studied the laws of oscillation;
In mathematics, he created the "gap product technique" ” (method of summation of second-order arithmetic series), “Method of Circles” (a method of finding the chord and arc length of an arc given the diameter of a circle and the height of an arc);
In geology In terms of science, he studied the formation of alluvial plains, the erosion of water, etc., and was the first to propose the name of petroleum; in medicine, he has many records of effective prescriptions and has many books. Medical works;
In addition, he recorded in detail the scientific development and production technology at that time, such as Bi Sheng's invention of movable type printing and metal smelting methods.
Shen Kuo had a strong interest in astronomy, geography, etc. since he was a child. He was diligent in learning and inquiring, and studied hard. When he was a boy, he lived in Quanzhou, Fujian Province for many years with his father, who was a prefecture official in Quanzhou. Some of his experiences at that time were included in "Mengxi Bi Tan". In terms of astronomy, Shen Kuo also made great achievements. He once manufactured the armillary sphere, the main instrument for observing astronomy in ancient my country; a landscape table showing the shadow of the sun, etc. In order to measure the exact position of the Polar Star, he used an armillary sphere to observe the position of the Polar Star every day for three consecutive months. He drew the positions of the Polar Star seen on the first, middle and late nights on the map. After careful research, he finally concluded that the position of the Polar Star was The North Pole is three degrees away. This scientific basis is recorded in detail in "Mengxi Bi Tan". "Mengxi Bi Tan" also records Shen Kuo's contribution to mathematics. He developed arithmetic series since "Nine Chapters on Arithmetic" and created a new high-level summation method - gap product number. In geometry, he invented the circle technique, which is a method of finding the base and arc of an arc from the known diameter and height of the arc. For this reason, Japanese mathematician Yoshio Mikami once gave Shen Kuo a very high evaluation.
The "History of Song Dynasty·Biography of Shen Kuo" said that he was "erudite and good at writing, and he had written on everything from astronomy, local chronicles, laws and calendars, music, medicine, and divination." British science historian Joseph Needham commented that Shen Kuo was "a coordinate in the history of Chinese science" and "a milestone in the history of Chinese science and technology."
On July 1, 1979, in memory of him, the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences named an asteroid 2027 discovered by the observatory in 1964 as "Shen Kuo".
In the encyclopedia "Mengxi Bi Tan", he was the first person to unify the names of stone paint, stone grease water, kerosene, fierce fire oil and other names used in history as petroleum, and also named petroleum Discussed in great detail.
He was once called the most outstanding figure in the history of Chinese science by the British scientist Joseph Needham. Shen Kuo was born in the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty (AD 1031). He was diligent and good at reading since he was a child. Under the guidance of his mother, he finished reading the books at home at the age of fourteen. Later, he followed his father to places such as Quanzhou in Fujian, Runzhou in Jiangsu (now Zhenjiang), Jianzhou in Sichuan (now Jianyang), and Kaifeng in the capital. He had the opportunity to get in touch with the society and understand the people's life and production conditions at that time, which increased his knowledge a lot. Rarely heard of, he also showed superhuman intelligence. He came to Nanjing at the age of eighteen and became interested in medicine.
Shen Zhou died in the third year of Huangyou (1051). In the first year of Hehe (1054), Shen Kuo entered the officialdom under the influence of his father and served as the chief administrator of Shuyang County in Haizhou (now part of Jiangsu). He built canals and weirs and developed farmland. , quite a political achievement.
In the sixth year of Jiayou (1061), he served as the county magistrate of Ningguo, Anhui. He advocated and initiated the construction project of Wanchunwei in Wuhu area, and wrote "Five Comments on Polder" and "Illustrated Notes of Wanchunwei". 》.
In the eighth year of Jiayou's reign (1063), he passed the Jinshi examination at the age of thirty-three and was appointed as Yangzhou manager to join the army and preside over criminal trials. In the third year of Zhiping (1066), he was recommended to the Zhaowen Hall of the capital to edit books. Here he began to study astronomical calculations.
In the second year of Xining (1069 AD), Wang Anshi was appointed prime minister and began a large-scale reform movement. Shen Kuo actively participated in the reform movement and was trusted and valued by Wang Anshi. He served as the third minister, the highest official in charge of the country's finances, and many other important official positions.
In the fifth year of Xining (AD 1072), he concurrently served as the Tianjian of the Tiju Division, responsible for observing astronomical phenomena and calculating almanacs. Then, Shen Kuo took charge of the historical review.
In the sixth year of Xining (1073 AD), he served as the director of Jixian Academy.
Due to the convenience of his position, he had the opportunity to read more royal collections and enrich his knowledge. During this period, he wrote the "Armillary Sphere Theory", "Fului Theory", "Jingbiao Yi", "City Building Procedure Treaty", and "Battle Formation Method". He also went on many missions and inspected many places.
In the eighth year of Xining (1075), as a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, he went to Khitan as an envoy to negotiate the demarcation of the boundary and returned with success. During his mission, he recorded the dangerous mountains and rivers as well as the customs and people of the Liao Dynasty. He wrote the "Illustrations of Envoys to Prisoners" and submitted it to the imperial court.
In the ninth year of Xining (1076), he was appointed as a bachelor of Hanlin and the third envoy of Quan. Wang Anshi's reform failed, and Shen Kuo went out to Xuanzhou (today's Xuancheng, Anhui Province) as usual because he was implicated and the poem case was exposed.
In the tenth year of Xining (1077), Shen Kuo was appointed magistrate of Xuanzhou (today's Xuancheng, Anhui).
In the second year of Yuanfeng (1079), the Wutai Poetry Case broke out. Due to different political stances, Su Shi was accused.
In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), in order to resist the Western Xia Dynasty, he changed his name to Yanzhou (today's Yan'an area of ??Shaanxi Province), and also served as the economic and strategic envoy of Yanzhou Road.
In the fifth year of Yuanfeng (1082 AD), he was a direct bachelor of Shenglong Tuge. But not long after, Xu Xi, the general manager of Fuyan Road, Zhong E, the deputy general manager of Fuyan Road, Qu Zhen, and others were greedy for power and did not listen to the advice of the accompanying chamberlain Li Shunju. 20,000, the people had no calculation, Gao Yongheng, Li Shunju and others all died heroically. This battle was one of the biggest defeats in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty, and ruined the good unification situation after the victory at Pingxia City. Although Shen Kuo was not the first to commit the crime, he still had leadership responsibilities. In addition, due to his poor rescue efforts during the battle, he was demoted to Junzhou (today's Junxian County, Hubei Province) as deputy envoy of regiment training and resettled with the state. From then on, his political life was basically in exile. Declare the end.
In the second year of Yuanyou (1087), he completed the "map of prefectures and counties in the world" that he had been ordered to compile in the ninth year of Xining, named it "Shou Ling Map", and was authorized to go to Bianjing in person Advance submission.
In the third year of Yuanyou, Shen Kuo moved to Runzhou (today's east of Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province), managed the garden he had purchased before, named it "Mengxi Garden", and lived in seclusion here eight years later. That is, Song Zhezong died in the second year of Shaosheng (1095 AD). He wrote dozens of works throughout his life, but apart from "Mengxi Bi Tan", only a few works such as the comprehensive collection "Changxing Collection" and the medical work "Liangfang" have been preserved to this day. "Mengxi Bi Tan" is a coordinate in the history of Chinese science. It is a summary of Shen Kuo's social and scientific activities throughout his life. It is extremely rich in content, including astronomy, calendar, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, geology, medicine, literature, history, and archaeology. , music, art, etc. There are more than 600 items. About 200 of them belong to science and technology, recording many of his inventions, discoveries and insights. Shen Kuo can be said to be a scientific generalist. "Mengxi Bi Tan" includes three parts: "Bi Tan", "Supplementary Bi Tan" and "Continuation Bi Tan". The twenty-six volumes of "Bi Tan" are divided into seventeen categories, namely "Stories, Dialectics, Rhythm, Symbols, Personnel, Government, Wit, Art and Literature, Calligraphy and Painting, Skills, Use of Utensils, Miracles, Weird Things, Fallacies, and Ridicule". Jie, magazine, medicine discussion." The three volumes of "Bubi Tan" include eleven of the above contents. "Continuation of Bi Tan" is a volume that is not divided into categories. There are ***609 articles in the book (there are slight differences in different versions), covering astronomy, calendar, meteorology, geology, geography, physics, chemistry, biology, agriculture, water conservancy, architecture, medicine, history, literature, art, and personnel. , military, law and many other fields. Among these entries, those belonging to the humanities such as anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, music, etc. account for about 18% of the total entries; those belonging to the natural sciences account for about 36% of the total, and the rest are personnel information , military, law and miscellaneous anecdotes account for about 46% of the book. In terms of nature, "Mengxi Bi Tan" belongs to the notebook category. In terms of content, it spends more than one-third of its length describing and elucidating natural science knowledge, which is rare among notebook-type works. Because Shen Kuo himself had a high level of scientific literacy, the scientific and technological knowledge he recorded was of extremely high value. It basically reflected the scientific development level of the Northern Song Dynasty and his own research experience. Therefore, he was praised by the British scholar Joseph Needham as one of the "history of Chinese science". coordinates".
"Mengxi Bi Tan" records in detail the outstanding contributions of the working people in science and technology and his own research results, reflecting the brilliant achievements of natural science in ancient my country, especially in the Northern Song Dynasty. "History of the Song Dynasty· "The Biography of Shen Kuo" states that the author Shen Kuo is "erudite and good at writing, and he has written on everything from astronomy, local chronicles, laws and calendars, music, medicine, and divination." British science historian Joseph Needham commented on "Mengxi Bi Tan" as "a coordinate in the history of Chinese science."
On July 1, 1979, in memory of him, the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences named an asteroid 2027 discovered by the observatory in 1964 after Shen Kuo. In short, Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" is an important document in the history of Chinese science and technology, an encyclopedic work.