American Science and Modern China, 1876–1936

This essay in comparative history focuses on the transmission of scientific ideas and organizations from the United States to China.

Peter Buck (Author)

9780521135382, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 March 2010

296 pages
23 x 15 x 1.5 cm, 0.4 kg

American Science and Modern China is an essay in comparative history, originally published in 1980. It focuses on the transmission of scientific ideas and organizations from the United States to China, a topic interesting primarily for what it reveals about the social history of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American science. The main themes concern how scientific traditions and institutions that were developed in one setting served as models for the creation of new ones elsewhere, what modifications were induced by this change of environment, and what these modifications imply about the interdependence of scientific knowledge and social life. The book deals with a number of individuals and organizations involved in the development of modern science in China. Dr Buck examines their views of science's place among the forces for change in China, describes their efforts to build institutional bases for science, and sets their plans and programs in broad social and intellectual contexts.

Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: orienting American science
2. Social diseases and contagious disorders: missionary science and medical missionaries
3. 'To do their best for their country': the China Medical Board and the Boxer indemnity fellowship program
4. Science and revolution: China in 1911
5. 'Science as a vocation': social diversity and scientific specialties
6. Modernization and its discontents: the scientific method in China and America
7. 'A sphere of influence in beneficence': American science and modern China
Backwardness and dependence
Tragedy and farce
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX]