Science and Civilisation in China, Part 3, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Historical Survey from Cinnabar Elixirs to Synthetic Insulin

The fifth volume of Dr Needham's immense undertaking, like the fourth, is subdivided into parts for ease of presentation and assimilation, each part bound and published separately.

The volume as a whole covers the subjects of alchemy, early chemistry, and chemical technology (which includes military invention, especially gunpowder; paper and printing; textiles; mining and metallurgy; the salt industry; and ceramics).