Books & Journals (12)

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Contents
American Science and Modern China................Science and Social History
Infinite in All Directions..........................................Physics
Scientists and Popular Writers..............................General Science
(300 Lines)

AMERICAN SCIENCE AND MODERN CHINA, 1876-1936 By Peter Buck
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980. 284 pp. $24.95.

Zhenqin Li

Much of the publications on China have been predominantly focused on
the political aspect of Chinese society, and often with little regard to
its historical settings and international contexts. This is in part due to
the disproportionately large and extremely complex role of politics in the
modern Chinese history. However, if we allow ourselves to be satisfied
with the narrow political analysis, we may risk ourselves to be confined by
conventional wisdom, and lose sight of some important forces and factors
that have latent potential in shaping China's future.
Among the topics that have been neglected by traditional scholarship on
Chinese studies is the examination of the role, experience and fate of
foreign-trained intellectuals in the modern Chinese history. Except for a
few political figures, e.g., Sun Zhongsan (Sun Yat-sen), known for his role
in the founding of ROC and KMT, and Lu Xun, known for his criticism of
traditional Chinese culture, the social roles of many foreign-trained
Chinese have been largely forgotten. Their fall into oblivion may not just
be their personal misfortune, but could also be our national tragedy. Our
ignorance of their experiences could mean that we have to spend more time
to "re-discover the wheel", and perhaps to repeat their mistakes. Peter
Buck's book, AMERICAN SCIENCE AND MODERN CHINA, 1876-1936, presents a
unique comparative study on the transfer to China of American ideas about
the organization of scientific research and its roles in society. Though
the author is primarily interested in the social history of American
science in a period of rapid industrialization, about a third of his book
is concerned with Chinese students then in the U.S. and their perceptions
of the American models and Chinese society. The book gives extensive
coverage on the views of policy-makers of the Rockefeller Foundation's
China Medical Board, which sponsored the Peking Union Medical College
(Beijing Xiehe Yixueyuan), and that of the Boxer Indemnity fellowship
program (later to be named as the China Foundation for the Promotion of
Education and Culture), which funded about 1200 Chinese students over a
twenty-year period. The book pays special attentions to the social and
institutional framework in the development of modern Chinese science, in
particular, the roles of the Science Society of China, which was modeled
after the American Association for the Advancement of Science and founded
at Cornell University in 1915. Among the founding members of the Science
Society of China (Zhongguo Kexueshe), the most prominent figures include Hu
Shi (Hu Shih), Yang Chuan (Yang Xing-Fu), Zen H.C. (Ren Hong-Juan), Zhao
Yuanren (Chao Yuen-Jen), Bing Zhi (Ping Chih) whose activities and views
have been covered extensively in Peter Buck's book.
Despite the contributions of the American-trained Chinese scientists,
however, Peter Buck's main conclusion of the book is that the attempt to
make science take root in China had largely failed. Quoting the phrases of
a Chinese sociologist, Fei Hsiao-tung, from his book of the 1940's, China's
Gentry, Peter Buck wrote:
It was clear that "the need in present-day China to modernize quickly"
could only be "met by the introduction of Western knowledge," but those
Chinese who had the requisite technical abilities had isolated
themselves from their countrymen. They had conspicuously failed to
"find a bridge by means of which they might bring over and apply their
knowledge to their own communities. Without such a bridge modern
knowledge [was] ineffectively hanging in the air."
According to Peter Buck's analysis, such assessment of the new scientific
establishment in China was not only shared by some Chinese scientists and
observers, but also by their American sponsors and advisors. For example,
the vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation, Selskar Gunn, concluded
in 1934: "The majority of Chinese fellows, on their return, are found to
be unsuited to fit into the local situations. They have lost a great deal
of their Chinese point of view and have picked up something of Western life
but insufficient to make them really Western in their outlook."
Many readers of this book may find Peter Buck's conclusion to be
unfairly critical towards the effort by American-trained Chinese and their
American mentors to implant modern science on the Chinese soil. This is
true to a certain extent, as pointed out by other reviewers of this book
[1,2]. The tremendous political and social constraints presented during
the timeframe (1876-1936) might well be beyond control of the Americans and
the Chinese scientists. Peter Buck himself acknowledges that there is no
easy alternative method for underdeveloped countries to develop science:
"There can be no question but that, in exporting science, the West has been
more preoccupied with furthering its own ambitions, imperialist and
otherwise, than with meeting or even attempting to discern the needs of
backward countries." Yet, according to Buck, the apparent alternative--
refraining from exporting advanced science and technology and making no
effort to construct or to encourage others to construct more appropriate
bodies of knowledge--was and is no solution at all.
The most valuable contribution of Buck's book is that it presents more
perceptive questions than ready answers. As a Chinese reader who is more
interested in the response of Chinese intellectuals to the West than in the
subtlety of American thoughts on the sociology of science, I am somewhat
disappointed with the unevenness of statistics concerning American-trained
Chinese in the book. I believe this book is not suitable to serve as a
source book or "bible" on the American-trained Chinese. However, it can
serve an equally, if not more, important purpose, i.e., to stimulate our
reflections on the intellectual footsteps of our forerunners. The
American-trained Chinese covered in this book are known for their
dedications to the uplifting of China through the development of science.
Some other foreign-trained Chinese, such as Tao Xingzhi and Yan Yangchu,
were convinced of the primary importance of education in the development of
China. Yet others, like Fan Xudong and Hou Debang, were dedicated to the
establishment of "national industries". They all are known for their
achievements. Yet they all failed in their attempt in transforming the
larger Chinese society. Do their "failures" imply that "only socialism can
save China"? Or "only Three People's Principles can save China"? The most
important question to today's Chinese students abroad is perhaps: what can
we learn from the experiences of our counterparts in the preceding
generations? If, for example, someone is to write a book AMERICAN
DEMOCRACY AND MODERN CHINA, 1978-xxxx, what is he going to say about us?

Other reviews of this book: [1] Croizier, R. (1980). Science. Vol. 210,
779. [2] Furth, C. (1981). Am. Historical Review. Vol. 86, 901.
(Li Zhenqin ga1034%sd...@ucsd.edu)
*******************************

INFINITE IN ALL DIRECTIONS By Freeman J. Dyson
New York: Harper & Row, 1985. 336 pp. $8.95 (pb).

Z. Duanmu

Among many recent books written by scientists for conveying the
excitement of scientific discoveries to laymen, Freeman Dyson's "INFINITE
IN ALL DIRECTIONS" is outstanding in its contents and style. The book is
based on Dyson's famous Gifford Lectures about mankind, nature, and the
future of the universe. The uniqueness of the book lies in the author's
rich life experience as a scientist who excels in mathematical physics,
astronomy and biology; as a technological innovator who enthusiastically
participated in designing a safe commercial nuclear reactor and a nuclear
propulsion spaceship; and as a politically engaged citizen who is actively
involved in public affairs at all levels, from serving on the local town
committee to regulate the biological experimental procedure, to advising
the U.S. government about nuclear disarmament. The central theme of the
book--celebration of the diversity of the world and ourselves--is carried
out not in an abstract philosophical fashion, but a narrative manner, full
of vivid stories and humor. The author's remarkable intellect, great
imagination and unfailing optimism permeate every page of the book. It is
hard to imagine that one can read it without being stirred.
As Dyson explains, the title `Infinite in All Directions' has two
meanings in two parts of the book. First, "it means the unbounded
potentialities of the universe as it becomes aware of itself through the
action of life and intelligence. Second, it means the unbounded
responsibilities of mankind as custodians of life upon a small planet."
The first part is concerned with diversity of the universe as we observe
and attempt to understand it scientifically. Life in the universe is a
phenomenon for us to explain. The second part is concerned with diversity
of human needs as a goal, which our technology and political arrangement
are attempting to satisfy.
Dyson first leads us on a quick tour of the universe starting with
superstrings and ending with butterflies. Superstrings come at the
beginning and butterflies at the end because they are extreme examples and
illustrate two notions of beauty. "Butterflies are at the extreme of
concreteness, superstrings at the extreme of abstraction." He traces the
historical origin of pursuit of these two different notions of beauty and
uses the names of two cities, Athens and Manchester, to symbolize them.
Athens--the center of ancient Greek civilization--stands for the emphasis
on ideas and theories, and on the effort to find unifying concepts which
tie the universe together, while Manchester--the birthplace of modern
industrial revolution-- stands for the emphasis on facts and things, and on
the daring to explore and extend our knowledge of natural diversity. Dyson
introduces to readers many great scientists and their works. As the
general public perceived, Newton was the supreme intellect of the Age of
Enlightenment, a spokesman for the rational universe and a great unifier.
Yet privately, Newton was a secret Unitarian and held a very romantic view
of the universe. In the discussion of life and its origin, Dyson
emphasizes, with numerous example, the vital importance of diversity to the
survival of life in a hostile environment.
The second part of the book deals with the technology, with particular
concerns about the peaceful use of nuclear energy, space technology and
genetic engineering. In the chapter "Quick is Beautiful", Dyson tells two
vivid stories about two types of technology: the first commercial nuclear
reactor and its counterpart, a giant nuclear power plant; and an ice pond
at Princeton and its counterpart, the giant Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor
(TFTR) which is also at Princeton. (The ice pond "technology" is as simple
as its name implies, i.e., accumulating snow into a pond in the winter and
using it to cool buildings during the summer time). One type of
technology, which the ice pond and the commercial reactor represent, is
small unit size, simple design, and mass production and quick response to
the market, while the other is just opposite. The results of these two
types of technologies are described by Dyson as follows: "When I...saw
those two machines, the $300 million TFTR and our little ice pond, what I
saw in my mind's eye was a dinosaur and an early primate. I wonder how
long it will be before the next comet falls." (Whenever I read these
lines, I cannot help think of the SanXia Dam with chills down to my spine.)
As a lover of diversity, Dyson never satisfies himself with the
present state of diversity in nature and in human cultures on this planet.
To him, this is not the end of the process of diversification, but just the
beginning of a new one in a much more grander scale. In his preach to
colonize the solar system, he was dreaming of an astrochicken with weight
of 1 kg and equipped with genetic engineering, artificial intelligence and
solar-electric propulsion. Once being sent to orbit, it grows up. Its
biological components are busy in reorganizing themselves for life in
space, and its wings become solar energy collectors. It navigates across
the solar system. Once it lands on the moon, it eats ice and hydrocarbons
and uses its internal metabolic process with input energy from sunlight to
convert the food into chemical fuels for the next jumping off, for
solar-electric propulsion gives too small in thrust for jumping. All this
sounds a bit too romantic and too remote. However, Dyson believes such
technology is likely to become available for use by the year 2016!
Dyson's view of the future of the universe is very different from the
present science teaching. He strongly criticizes the narrow rational
thinking of this century, which is represented by Jacques Monod's dogmatic
separation of values from knowledge, and by Steven Weinberg's nihilistic
view of the universe. The ultimate purpose of the universe, according to
Dyson, is to lead to maximum diversity. Man--the product of diversity--has
to bear the responsibility to bring diversity to the rest of the universe.
The expansion of life and of mankind into the universe will lead to a
vast diversification of ecologies and of cultures.
Letting our imagination wander among the stars, we too may hear
whispers of immortality.
While reading these lines, I can not distinguish a scientist from a poet.
The boundary between poetry and science is becoming a blur. Now I realize
at the highest level they should be the same and one: both are coming from
the deepest of human souls to bring order to the cosmos, to give meaning to
life, and to inspire people to hope and to dream.
(This author greatly thanks Li Zhenqin and Lin Hong for their encouragement
of this essay.) (Duanmu dua...@helios.TN.CORNELL.EDU)
**************************************

Scientists and Popular Writers: An Annotated Book List (I)

IRIS Z. Collins (Ed.)

Erwin Schrodinger.
WHAT IS LIFE? Cambridge. 1968 (1945). pb $12.95.
MY VIEW OF THE WORLD. Ox Bow. 1980. 110 pp. pb $10.
A gentle, sober, decent man and an incessant chain smoker. Competent in
six languages and something of a poet. His work on wave mechanics led him
to Nobel prize in physics. Many of his later books are notable for their
philosophical subtlety. A major factor in Francis Crick's (Nobel laureate
for DNA research) leaving physics for biology had been the reading in 1946
of WHAT IS LIFE, in which Schrodinger elegantly pronounced the belief that
genes were the key to understanding life.

Richard Feynman.
SURELY YOU'RE JOKING, MR. FEYNMAN! Bantam. 1986. 352pp. pb $4.50.
WHAT DO YOU CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK? (With Ralph Leighton)
Norton. 1988. $17.45.
Since his early age, "Feynman was something of a prodigy...He was a puzzle
nut, an inventor, a practical joker." "A man without an internal censor, a
formidable, hawkfaced presence who says exactly what is on his mind the
instant it occurs." (Crease & Mann: The Second Creation, 1986. p. 135)
In 1965, he won Nobel prize for shaping the mathematical way in which
particle physics is discussed.

Steven Weinberg
THE FIRST THREE MINUTES: Modern View of the Origin of the Universe.
Basic Books. 1988. 214pp. pb $7.95.
A tall man with wavy red hair exploding into gray curls at the back of his
neck, he is now the head of the theory group of the department of Physics
at University of Texas, in Austin. His model for the unification of the
weak and electromagnetic interactions won him Nobel prize in 1978. A
reviewer said about this stimulating book, "One comes away from his book
feeling not only that the idea of an original cosmic explosion is not crazy
but that other theory appears scientifically irrational."

Stephen Hawking
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. Bantam.
1988. 198pp. $16.50.
On April 29, 1980, Hawking assumed the chair of the Lucasian Professorship
of mathematics at Cambridge University, a position for the greatest
theoretical physicists, such as Newton and Dirac. His inaugural lecture
was entitled: "Is the End in Sight for Theoretical Physics?" The answer,
he said, is probably yes. "The goal of theoretical physics might be
achieved in the not-too-distant future, say, by the end of the century."
His long struggle with a degenerative neural disease has kept him in a
wheel chair for many years and impeded his ability to speak and write.

Roger Penrose
THE EMPEROR'S NEW MIND: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the
Laws of Physics. Oxford. 1989. 428pp. $24.95.
A theoretical physicist at Cambridge, Penrose said, "Already computers are
able to perform numerous tasks that had previously been the exclusive
province of human thinking, with a speed and accuracy which far outstrip
anything that a human being can achieve. We have long been accustomed to
machinery which easily out-performs us in physical ways....If machines can
one day excel us in that one important quality in which we have believed
ourselves to be superior, shall we not then have surrendered that unique
superiority to our creations?"

James Watson
THE DOUBLE HELIX. NAL. 1968. 143pp. pb $4.50. (In any used
bookstore or garage sale, it costs from $.10 to $.50.)
The most broadly read story (in the history?) about science, scientists,
scientific politics (tricks), girls, wine, movies, Cambridge, London, and
Paris...Watson said, "....science seldom proceeds in the straightforward
logical manner imagined by outsiders. Instead, its steps forward (and
sometimes backward) are often very human events in which personalities and
cultural traditions play major roles." For the revolutionary study on DNA
structure, Watson and Crick were awarded Nobel prize in 1962.

Douglas Hofstadter
GODEL, ESCHER, BACH: An Eternal Golden Braid. Random House. 1980.
800pp. pb $13.95.
METAMAGICAL THEMAS: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern.
Basic Books. 1985. 852pp. pb $15.95.
A cognitive scientist, Hofstadter challenged paradoxes of logic,
mathematics, art, philosophy, and language (including Chinese). The
quickest way to know him and his writing is to skim the contents of his
books (three different contents for each book) and his bibliography with
hundreds of annotated books from all fields one can imagine.

Linus Pauling
NO MORE WAR! Dodd. 1983. 288pp. pb $7.95.
For his research into the nature of complex substances, Pauling was awarded
the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1954. He is also known for his study on
vitamin C and for contributing his sperm to a California "sperm bank" for
making "super babies". Putting his scientific knowledge and prestige at
the service of his political convictions, he has campaigned to promote
world peace and emphasize the genetic dangers of nuclear explosions. In
1962, he was awarded Nobel peace prize. He is a good salesman for his
science and politics to the public and an international "troublemaker" for
the State Department (with his passport suspended during McCarthy years).

Issue Editor: Zemin Zhang csf-...@postgres.berkeley.edu