There are already descriptions and attempts at explanation of physical phenomena in Chinese texts of the 4th century BCE, e.g. the effect of levers and the optical phenomenon of refraction. There are reports of physical phenomena in many texts up to the 17th century, and most prominent among these is concern with the anomalies of the compass. However, there were no attempts to systematize the manifold observations and to use them as the basis of systematic and purposeful research. At first, West…