Europe is often seen as having developed over and improved other continents—but this notion is unfounded. Historian of science and sinologist Dagmar Schäfer focuses on China between 1350 and 1650, showing that in many cases the Chinese were ahead of European cultures—for example in silk production. China was shaped by a tremendous spirit of innovation; technologies and the arts flourished over the following centuries. For her research Schäfer now receives the renowned Leibniz Prize 2020, the highest research award in Germany.
Dagmar Schäfer in an interview with radioeins vom RBB.