For most of human history, China was the world’s most advanced technological power. The blast furnace originated there, and thus so, too, did cast iron. Only in the Middle Ages did Europe begin to match Chinese ingenuity and capacity in these fields, doing so largely through imitation. Only with the growth of European mechanical industries and overseas empires in the 18th century did the Westerners become its rivals. Do you think that China is likely to dominate the world technologies ?

