- 著者
-
金 凡性
- 出版者
- 日本科学史学会
- 雑誌
- 科学史研究 (ISSN:21887535)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.43, no.232, pp.211-220, 2004 (Released:2021-08-12)
In this paper, I describe the process through which Japanese seismology tried to contribute to the development of a new technology, seismic exploration, in the interwar period. Even though the former authority enjoyed by Japanese seismology had been in decline since the early 1920s, the skill of the scientists who had devised seismographs and analyzed seismograms could be applied to the new technology. Seismic exploration, i. e., prospecting for oil using artificial seismic waves, was welcomed as a new way of contributing to Japan's quest for petroleum. On the other hand, some civil engineers who worked for the National Railway adapted this new promising technology for their own purpose, which further disseminated the application of the earthquake science. Because of the cooperation of scientists and engineers, seismic exploration in Japan developed, by the mid 1930s, to the extent that it was recognized as a military science. However, the conflict as to the purpose, leadership, and identity of seismic exploration had been born in the process, which disturbed the unification of the practitioners.