Talk:Blast Furnace/@comment-72.134.2.175-20160625095619/@comment-2601:187:8081:8EE3:D07D:1D75:FDA8:C656-20180805202611

The comment that said, "By 15th Century, some civilizations had blast furnaces, but Chinese invented them." Europe had blast furnaces by the 12th and 13th centuries. There is evidence that China invented it first, but it is not conclusive. But I would like to add this fact so you guys don't get in your "Chinese superiority", China didn't invent glass until after Europe and the Middle East did, conesquently they never created optics which by the way is used for teloscopes, microscopes, and seafaring equipment. The glass needed for this had to be pure and very transparent, the glass China made was for the arts and was opaque. Different civilizations create different technologies which get conquered and used by others. The mongols conquered china took gunpowder and introduced it to europe where it was improved upon. Claiming one civilization does something first is pointless, because another civilization may have created something else instead, and trade balances this out. Its just that China, and the Middle East and Europe are too far away for effective trading of ideas.