历史的发展是复杂的,随着科学技术的巨大进步,如本世纪末,科技探索由宏观进入到微观、宇观领域;50年代以来,自然史研究大大加强;70年代以来,复杂性研究及其非线性现象研究的迅速崛起、科学潮流的转型、人与自然关系开始转折,国内外学术界有越来越多人惊讶地发现,中国古老的传统文化(不仅是古代科技,还包括古代哲学、伦理、道德、文学、艺术,乃至宗教等方面)对当代科技前沿探索有着特殊乃至巨大的帮助。国内外已有不少成功的事例,现可归纳以下几个方面进行阐述。(一)历史自然记录与自然史重大规律的发现当代有关天体演化、大地构造、地震预报、气候变迁、海平面升降、环境演替、珍稀生物物种绝灭、生物多样性等等重大综合性科学前沿问题,是自然史或与之有密切关系的问题。以往自然史研究的资料只来自地层,但地层资料不仅类型单调而且十分零碎。文献资料则大不相同,中国 The development of history is complicated. With the tremendous progress of science and technology, as of the end of this century, the exploration of science and technology has gone from the macro to the micro and cosmic fields. Since the 1950s, the study of natural history has been greatly strengthened. Since the 1970s, The rapid rise of non-linear phenomenon, the trend of science and the transition of the relationship between man and nature, more and more people in academia at home and abroad are surprised to find that the ancient Chinese traditional culture (not only ancient science and technology but also ancient philosophy, Ethics, morality, literature, art, and even religion) have a special and tremendous help in the exploration of contemporary science and technology. There have been many successful examples both at home and abroad, and the following aspects can be summarized now. (A history of natural records and the discovery of major laws of natural history The contemporary major evolution of celestial bodies, geotectonics, earthquake prediction, climate change, sea level rise and fall, environmental succession, extinction of rare biological species, biological diversity and other major comprehensive science The front issue is a matter of natural history or closely related to it. In the past, the data of natural history research came only from the strata, but the strata data are not only monotonous but also fragmentary. The literature is very different, China