The thread title refers to the steam engine, and yes, I’m referring solely to mechanical engineering and by extension the scientific method. In no way intending to discuss or disparage the myriad achievements of other formerly extant cultures of the world that took different paths to different destinations.
Neither mechanical engineering or the scientific method could ever emerge in isolation, regardless of what happened elsewhere in the world.
The scientific method itself, such as it was developed during the 18th century, is a poster child example as thinkers at the time hit the so-called Problem of induction. The great enlightened tinker David Hume provided foundational insights through his work "An Enquiry concerning human understanding" and "A Treatise of Human Nature".
Scholars have argued that David Hume has been influenced by oriental ideas when he developed his thinking regarding observations, causality, induction and self. Ideas which were paramount when it comes to defining a formal theory regarding the "scientific method" such as we understand it today.
