Current Perspectives in the History of Science in East Asia (review)

This volume reflects the diversity and vitality of studies in the history of science in East Asia. It also serves as a reminder that work in this area has to bring together expertise from many different linguistic, cultural, and disciplinary resources. The fifty-three essays included are a selection from those presented at the Eighth International Conference on the History of Science in East Asia, held in Seoul in August 1996. These are grouped under eight headings that indicate the range represented: (1) "Historiographical Considerations," (2) "Intellectual Background," (3) "Ideas and Assumptions," (4) "Institutions," (5) "Mathematical Sciences," (6) "Medicine and Technology," (7) "Medical Practitioners," and (8) "Western Science and Scientific Transmissions." The contributions include essays on science in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet as well as China and cover studies of the modern period in addition to the period of the ancient classics.

Perhaps equally important are the essays presenting historiographical considerations concerned with the bases of possible future research. Here the mutual entanglements between history and politics are acknowledged. Park Song-Rae notes the influence of ideas about Korean independence on what he sees as the over-attachment of Korean historians to the scientific and technological assets of their past, while also registering a mild complaint, based on the discussion of the dating of an early rain gauge, against Sinocentric interpretations of history. His plea is for East Asian historians of science not to focus only on the history of their own country, but to have an openness with respect to the history of neighboring areas. Nathan Sivin is rightly concerned about the future of those departments in universities, which includes those devoted to history, that are not engaged in training the technical labor force or generating immediate income. He suggests that there is an urgent intellectual need to prove to a broad readership that understanding ancient China can help them understand not only the Chinese but themselves. As he says, claims about Chinese doing something first do not lead to this kind of reflection, whereas understanding an alternative experience of Nature as the Chinese recorded it, or an unanticipated connection between cosmology and practical application, can. He goes on to suggest ways in which historians of Chinese medicine can make their work useful to other historians of medicine and to broader discussions of the role of medicine in society. The essays in part 7 on "Medical Practitioners" certainly should be of interest to historians of medical practice in other parts of the world. They cover, among other topics, the relation between physicians and pharmacists, the role of women as healers, and the licensing system for Korean herbal practitioners.

The essays in part 5 on "Mathematical Sciences" will be of interest to historians of both mathematics and astronomy. Topics covered include the calculation of pi (π) by Zhao Youqin, the tables of planetary latitude in the Huihui li, and Zhu Zaiyu's work in acoustics. In other sections there are several essays touching on other aspects of the history of astronomy, the impact of Western astronomy on Chinese astronomy, and some new evidence on the transmission of European astronomy to China.

It is impossible to convey in a brief review the full range of topics covered by the essays in this volume. As with any conference volume the quality is a little uneven, but the editors have been selective so that in general the standard is high and anyone with an interest in the history of science in Asia, and in particular anyone focusing on astronomy or medicine, is likely to find something of value here.