TheFourGreatInventionsofancientChinaare,accordingtoChinesetraditionandtheBritishscholarandbiochemistJosephNeedham: 　　TheCompass 　　Gunpowder 　　Papermaking 　　Printing 　　TheseinventionsarecelebratedinChineseculturefortheirhistoricalsignificanceandassignsofancientChina'sadvancedscienceandtechnology.ThesefourdiscoverieshadanenormousimpactonthedevelopmentofChinesecivilizationandafar-rangingglobalimpact. 　　Althoughhemayhavebeenunawareoftheoriginoftheseinventions,in1620theEnglishphilosopherFrancisBaconnotedtheirimportancebywriting: 　　好像对 　　Printing,gunpowderandthecompass:Thesethreehavechangedthewholefaceandstateofthingsthroughouttheworld;thefirstinliterature,thesecondinwarfare,thethirdinnavigation;whencehavefollowedinnumerablechanges,insomuchthatnoempire,nosect,nostarseemstohaveexertedgreaterpowerandinfluenceinhumanaffairsthanthese.