The Chinese Journal for the History of Science and Technology

TheChineseJournalfortheHistoryofScienceandTechnology(knownasChinaHistoricalMaterialsofSci enceandTechnologyfrom1980to2004)istheofficialpublicationoftheChineseSocietyfortheHistoryofSci enceandTechnologyandtheInstitutefortheHistoryofNaturalScience,ChineseAc…     

The Chinese Journal for the History Science and Technology

The Chinese Journal for the History of Science and Technology （known as China Historical Materials of Science and Technology from 1980 to 2004） is the official publication of the Chinese Society for the History of Science and Technology and the Institute for the History of Natural Science, Chinese Academy of Science. It is foremost vehicle for the scholarship of professional historians of science in China, published quarterly by China Science and Technology Press.     

如何理解和翻译"Science and Technology Studies"

从S＆TS产生的历史背景和研究范围来看，S＆TS是被视为独立研究领域的科学技术哲学、科学技术史和科学技术社会学研究出现交叉汇流的一个会聚点，它以多学科、跨学科和交叉性为显著特征，是与这些传统学科处于同一层次的一种新型的学术研究领域。可以考虑把S＆TS意译为“科学与技术的人文社会学研究”。从这个意义上看，企图把S＆TS译为“科学技术学”，并将其提升为涵盖其他学科的一级学科来对待的观点是值得商榷的；企图以“科学技术学”取代“科学技术哲学”来谈论中国自然辩证法学科建设的观点，则既不符合中国自然辩证法学科的研究传统，更是违背了S＆TS的基本内涵。     

Address at the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd International Congress of History of Science

Honorable Council members of the DHS, Chairs of Delegations, Distinguished Guests, Lances and Gentlemen ： On behalf of the Chinese host, I sincerely and warmly welcome you to Beijing and the 22^nd International Congress of the History of Science. To my knowledge, in the 76 years of its history, this is only the second time that the Congress is being held in the Far East, and is also the second time the Congress is meeting in a developing country.     

The Assassin of Relativity

In his younger years—from the time they were students together at the Zurich Polytechnic—Albert Einstein was good friends with Friedrich Adler. Adler, son of the cultured leader of the Socialist Party in Vienna, was, like Einstein, a physicist very much engaged with both epistemology and politics. They shared a fascination with Ernst Mach.     

Friends of Wisdom?

This commentary addresses the question of the meaning of critique in relation to objectivism or dogmatism. Inspired by Kant’s critical philosophy and Husserl’s phenomenology, it defines the first in terms of conditionality, the second in terms of oppositionality. It works out an application on the basis of Salthe’s (Found Sci 15 4(6):357–367, 2010a) paper on development and evolution, where competition is criticized in oppositional, more than in conditional terms.     

Address at the Opening Ceremony of the 22~(nd) International Congress of History of Science

HonorableCouncilmembersoftheDHS,ChairsofDelegations,DistinguishedGuests,Ladies andGentlemen:OnbehalfoftheChinesehost,IsincerelyandwarmlywelcomeyoutoBeijingandthe22nd InternationalCongressoftheHistoryofScience.Tomyknowledge,inthe76yearsofitshisto ry,thisis…     

The Constructive Realist Account of Science and Its Application to Ilya Prigogine’s Conception of Laws of Nature

Sciences are often regarded as providing the best, or, ideally, exact, knowledge of the world, especially in providing laws of nature. Ilya Prigogine, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his theory of non-equilibrium chemical processes—this being also an important attempt to bridge the gap between exact and non-exact sciences [mentioned in the Presentation Speech by Professor Stig Claesson (nobelprize.org, The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1977)]—has had this ideal in mind when trying to formulate a new kind of science. Philosophers of science distinguish theory and reality, examining relations between these two. Nancy Cartwright’s distinction of fundamental and phenomenological laws, Rein Vihalemm’s conception of the peculiarity of the exact sciences, and Ronald Giere’s account of models in science and science as a set of models are deployed in this article to criticise the common view of science and analyse Ilya Prigogine’s view in particular. We will conclude that on a more abstract, philosophical level, Prigogine’s understanding of science doesn’t differ from the common understanding.

Two Chinese Pioneers of Relativity

1Introduction OnDecember17,1922,AlbertEinsteinwrotefromKyoto,JapantoXiaYuanli,a physicsprofessoratPekingUniversity.PleasedbyXia sletter,Einsteinnonethelessin formedXiathathemightnotbeabletocometoBeijing,forwhichhecouldnothelpla menting,“Beijingissoclosea…     

The Discovery of the Southern Sky

该文题为《南天星空的发现－－对欧洲和中国三份最早的南天星表的研究》。从１５世纪末开始，以哥伦布发现美洲大陆为标志，欧洲进入伟大的地理新发现时代。欧洲航海家们越过赤道，到达了南半球，从而南天极附近的星空开始成为欧洲人能够看到的星空。     

Leibniz’s Theory of Space

In this paper I offer a fresh interpretation of Leibniz’s theory of space, in which I explain the connection of his relational theory to both his mathematical theory of analysis situs and his theory of substance. I argue that the elements of his mature theory are not bare bodies (as on a standard relationalist view) nor bare points (as on an absolutist view), but situations. Regarded as an accident of an individual body, a situation is the complex of its angles and distances to other co-existing bodies, founded in the representation or state of the substance or substances contained in the body. The complex of all such mutually compatible situations of co-existing bodies constitutes an order of situations, or instantaneous space. Because these relations of situation change from one instant to another, space is an accidental whole that is continuously changing and becoming something different, and therefore a phenomenon. As Leibniz explains to Clarke, it can be represented mathematically by supposing some set of existents hypothetically (and counterfactually) to remain in a fixed mutual relation of situation, and gauging all subsequent situations in terms of transformations with respect to this initial set. Space conceived in terms of such allowable transformations is the subject of Analysis Situs. Finally, insofar as space is conceived in abstraction from any bodies that might individuate the situations, it encompasses all possible relations of situation. This abstract space, the order of all possible situations, is an abstract entity, and therefore ideal.     

Understanding Scientific Inquiries of Galileo’s Formulation for the Law of Free Falling Motion

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the role of abstraction and idealization in Galileo’s scientific inquiries into the law of free falling motion, and their importance in the history of science. Because there is no consensus on the use of the terms “abstraction” and “idealization” in the literature, it is necessary to distinguish between them at the outset. This paper will argue (1) for the importance of abstraction and idealization in physics and the theories and laws of physics constructed with abduction from observations and (2) that these theoretical laws of physics should be tested with deduction and induction thorough quasi-idealized entities rather than empirical results in the everyday world. Galileo’s work is linked to thought experiments in natural science. Galileo, using thought experiments based on idealization, persuaded others that what had been proven true for a ball on an inclined plane would be equally true for a ball falling through a vacuum.     

Newton’s Neo-Platonic Ontology of Space

This paper investigates Newton’s ontology of space in order to determine its commitment, if any, to both Cambridge neo-Platonism, which posits an incorporeal basis for space, and substantivalism, which regards space as a form of substance or entity. A non-substantivalist interpretation of Newton’s theory has been famously championed by Howard Stein and Robert DiSalle, among others, while both Stein and the early work of J. E. McGuire have downplayed the influence of Cambridge neo-Platonism on various aspects of Newton’s own spatial hypotheses. Both of these assertions will be shown to be problematic on various grounds, with special emphasis placed on Stein’s influential case for a non-substantivalist reading. Our analysis will strive, nonetheless, to reveal the unique or forward-looking aspects of Newton’s approach, most notably, his critical assessment of substance ontologies, that help to distinguish his theory of space from his neo-Platonic contemporaries and predecessors.     

Advertising Aristotle: A Preliminary Investigation into the Contemporary Relevance of Aristotle’s Art of Rhetoric

In this article, a preliminary investigation will be conducted in order to try to discover whether or not Aristotle’s the Art of Rhetoric can have any relevance as a handbook for the rhetoricians of the twenty-first century and in particular for advertising designers. First, the background against which this question is posed will be set out. Second, the chosen methodology will be explained. Thereafter, some qualitative data will be presented and discussed. Finally, some conclusions will be drawn suggesting that The Art of Rhetoric may be just as relevant and influential today for advertising professionals as it was for the lawyers and politicians of classical times.     

Exploring the Origin of“癌”

王立达[1]说,"癌"是日本人创造的汉字.王说曾为一些学者所继承,如胡新化[2]等.然而,据黄金贵[3]、何华珍[4]考证,"癌"字最早见于宋东轩居士<卫济宝书>(1170年).<卫济宝书>是一本外科专著.其中卷七有"痈疽五发"之说:"一曰癌"、"二曰瘭"、"三曰疽"、"四曰痼"、"五曰痈",且附有图示.     

Shifting Tectonic Plates in the History of Science： Reflections on the Life and Work of Joseph Needham

A meeting of historians of science in 21^St century Beijing provokes reflections of an unusual kind, some of which I should like to share with you now. Those reflections centre on the implications of the life and work of one of the past centuries most unusual intellectual figures Joseph Needham （1900-1995）.     

Studies in History of Natural ScienceInstruction for Contributors

StudiesintheHistoryofNaturalScience(SHNS)istheleadingjournalinthePeople sRepublicofChinade votedtostudiesinthehistoryofscience,technologyandmedicine.Thejournal,whichappearsinJanuary,April,JulyandOctober,publishesscholarlyarticlesandreviewsofbookseitherinE…     

Zhu Kezhen Visiting Chair Professorshipon History of Science

Zhu Kezhen(1 890— 1 974) was from Shangyu in Zhejiang Province.In his early years hewent to the USA to study agronomy and meteorology at Illinois and then Harvard University.On his return to China he undertook teaching and editing at Wuhan,Nanjing,Shanghai andTianjin. In 1 92 8he joined the Academia Sinica,founding China's first Institute ofMeteorology.In 1 936 he became President of Zhejiang Unicersity,and,after the founding ofthe People's Republic of China in 1 949,became Vice- …