Why did science develop faster in Western Europe than in the rest of the Eurasian continent? Or did it? In this seminar, we examine the long history of rational and scientific thinking in the eastern regions of Eurasia, leading up to the formation of modern East Asian states between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. We will unravel how premodern scholars around the Sinosphere engaged with a range of explanations about phenomena concerning heaven, earth, and everything in between. Finding points of convergence and divergence between disciplines such as astronomy, geography, botany, and medicine, you will learn about indigenous knowledge systems in constant dialogue with other epistemologies from around the world.