Fan Dainian, Cohen R.S. (eds.) Chinese Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

Springer, 1996. — 471 p.The articles in this collection were all selected from the first five volumes of the Journal of Dialectics of Nature published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences between 1979 and 1985. The Journal was established in 1979 as a comprehensive theoretical publication concerning the history, philosophy and sociology of the natural sciences. It began publication as a response to China's reform, particularly the policy of opening to the outside world. Chinese scholars began to undertake distinctive, original research in these fields. This collection provides a cross-section of their efforts during the initial phase.
To enable western scholars to understand the historical process of this change in Chinese academics, Yu Guangyuan's `On the Emancipation of the Mind' and Xu Liangying's `Essay on the Role of Science and Democracy in Society' have been included in this collection.
Three of the papers included on the philosophy of science are discussions of philosophical issues in cosmology and biology by scientists themselves. The remaining four are written by philosophers of science and discuss information and cognition, homeostasis and Chinese traditional medicine, the I Ching (Yi Jing) and mathematics, etc.
Papers have been selected on the history of both classical and modern science and technology, the most distinctive of which are macro-comparisons of the development of science in China and the west. Some papers discuss the issue of the demarcation of periods in the history of science, the history of ancient Chinese mathematics, astronomy, metallurgy, machinery, medicine, etc. Others discuss the history of modern physics and biology, the history of historiography of science in China and the history of regional development of Chinese science and technology.
Also included are biographies of three post-eighteenth-century Chinese scholars, Li Shanlan (1811-1882), Hua Hengfang (1833-1902), and Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940), who contributed greatly to the introduction of western science and scholarship to China. In addition, three short papers have been included introducing the interactions between Chinese scholars and three great western scientists, Niels Bohr, Norbert Wiener, and Robert A. Millikan.Science, Democracy and Society
Yu Guangyuan. On the Emancipation of the Mind.
Xu Liangying. Essay on the Role of Science and Democracy in Society.
Gong Yuzhi. Historical Development of the Chinese Communist Party's Scientific Policy (Prior to the Founding of the People's Republic).
Yu Guangyuan. Speeches at the Qingdao Genetics Conference of 1956.
Li Peishan, Meng Qinzhe, Huang Qinghe and Huang Shu-e. The Qingdao Conference of 1956 on Genetics: The Historical Background and Fundamental Experiences.
Philosophy of Science
Fang Lizhi and Zhou Youyuan. Concepts of Space and Time in Ancient China and in Modem Cosmology.
Jin Guantao and Hua Guofan. Information and Feedback in Epistemology.
Luo Jiachang. Time: A Philosophical Survey.
Fang Lizhi. The Concept of 'Primordial Motion': Past and Present.
Ding Dafu. On the Unity of Biology and Physics.
Chen Bu. Homeostasis and Chinese Traditional Medicine: Commenting on Cannon's The Wisdom of the Body.
Dong Guangbi. The Book of Changes and Mathematics.
History of Science and Technology
Jin Guantao, Fan Hongye and Liu Qingfeng. The Structure of Science and Technology in History: On the Factors Delaying the Development of Science and Technology in China in Comparison with the West since the 17th Century (Part One).
Jin Guantao, Fan Hongye and Liu Qingfeng. Historical Changes in the Structure of Science and Technology (Part Two, A Commentary).
Xu Liangying. The Problem of Demarcation of Periods in the History of Science.
Lin Wenzhao. A Brief Account of Chinese Studies of the History of Science and Technology in China.
Dai Nianzu. The Development of Modem Physics in China: The 50th Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Physical Society.
Qiu Lianghui. A Preliminary Study of the Characteristics of Metallurgical Technology in Ancient China.
Mei Rongzhao. Liu Hui 's Theories of Mathematics.
Le Xiucheng. A Comparison of the Structures of the Mathematical Systems of China and the West: Several Revelations from Information Theory.
Song Jie. The Historical Value of the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art in Society and the Economy.
Lu Jingyan. Studies of the South-Pointing Chariot: Survey of the Past 80 Years.
Liu Dun. A Comparison of Archimedes' and Liu Hui's Studies of Circles.
Zhang Binglun and Wang Zichun. The Struggle Between Evolutionary Theory and Creationism in China.
Song Zhenghai and Chen Chuangkang. Why did Zheng He's Sea Voyage Fail to Lead the Chinese to Make the 'Great Geographic Discovery'?
Chen Yalan. The Effect of the Autocratic Monarchy of the Qing Dynasty on Science and Technology.
Zhang Binglun. A Preliminary Analysis of Scientific Development and its Causes in Anhui Province during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Wang Yusheng. Li Shanlan: Forerunner of Modem Science in China.
Wang Yusheng. Hua Hengfang: Forerunner and Disseminator of Modem Science in China.
Gao Pingshu. Cai Yuanpei's Contributions to China's Science.
Li Bocong. The Treatise on Fevers and Miscellaneous Diseases: Vicissitudes during the Millenium after its Completion.
Jin Zumeng. A Critique of 'Zhang Heng's Theory of a Spherical Earth'.
Yan Kangnian. Niels Bohr in China.
Zhang Wei. Millikan and China.
Wei Hongsen. Norbert Wiener at Qinghua University.