梦溪笔谈

沈括 (1031–1095), a scholar-official who had served as court astronomer, envoy and general, wrote it in retirement at his garden 梦溪 'Dream Brook' in Zhenjiang. Among its 600-odd entries are the earliest known descriptions of a magnetic compass needle and of magnetic declination, and the earliest record of 毕昇's movable type.

The Chinese title says 'brush talks from Dream Brook': 笔谈 are talks written down with the brush instead of spoken, which is why the book is also called Brush Talks from Dream Brook.