No, I see what the authors mean; what I'm getting at is that they seem to assume no one until them has been willing to define science more inclusively or with more nuance, and that leaves Needham's stuff on Chinese science (and much else) out. I just get a little weary reading bold annoucements of Breaking New Ground and Overturning Old Paradigms that relies on selectively ignoring that the ground already has tracks on it and the old paradigms, while powerful, weren't universally accepted.