The Issue of Evidence of Knowledge Transmission Across Different Civilizations

One major bone of contention between Eurocentric and non-Eurocentric scholars with regard to the Needham Question concerns evidence of knowledge transmissions from non-European civilizations to Europe in the making of modern science. Some Eurocentric scholars insist on a legal criterion concerning such evidence, namely, proof beyond reasonable doubt and the presumption of innocence unless proven otherwise as practiced in the criminal law court. On this criterion, many knowledge transmission claims made by non-Eurocentric scholars can be dismissed out of hand. This unusual and unreasonable position is contrary to the common practice adopted in various historical disciplines which relies on the balance of probabilities and plausibility on the basis of indirect and, especially, circumstantial evidence. A number of cases of claims of scientific knowledge transmissions from non-European civilizations to Europe and their dismissal by Eurocentric scholars are examined to demonstrate the poverty of the legal criterion concerning historical evidence.