著者
加藤 聡
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.58, no.290, pp.112-125, 2019 (Released:2021-01-24)

John Harris (ca. 1666-1719) was a fellow of the Royal Society of London. He is known for his masterpiece, Lexicon technicum (1704). As the first encyclopedia written in English, his work enjoyed considerable success and was frequently reprinted through the eighteenth century. My article examines Harrisʼs compilation method and publishing strategy. I aim to account for his success within its historical and intellectual context. The first section of the article addresses the early history of the Royal Society and the writings of its members, John Evelyn (1620-1706) and John Dryden (1631-1700). Under the influence of academies active in Florence and Paris, they argued that the modern English language had been corrupted by exaggerated expressions. To remedy the situation, they promoted plain style and unified usage of expressions. The next section focuses on Harrisʼs proposal, entitled Lexicon technicum magnum (1702), so as to interpret his strategy for publication. He used this proposal as a sample to show the typefaces and quality of papers to be used in his planned encyclopedia. He also declared that his compilation was to be sold by subscription in order to avoid financial risks. In addition, he was able to collect a large number of experiments from various dictionaries and journals and summarize them by plain explanation. Finally this article argues that Harris used his proposal in a very strategic way and reveals that he was heavily influenced by his predecessors not only in England but also in France and other European countries.
著者
雨宮 高久
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.58, no.290, pp.126-143, 2019 (Released:2021-01-24)

Japanese researchers who initiated fusion research were of the common view that “fusion research should start from basic research.” However, the A-plan (“developing and realizing new ideas”) and the B-plan (“building medium-sized devices”) proposed in March 1959 by Kakuyugo Senmonbukai (the Special Panel on Nuclear Fusion Research, established in 1958) of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission under the auspices of the Prime Ministerʼs Office took a different view from the above-mentioned common view. These future plans led to an intense dispute that in later years was referred to as the A-B plans dispute. A particular focus of the A-B plans dispute was the B-planʼs aim of building in Japan the type of medium-sized devices that had obtained some success in foreign countries. Many previous studies have emphasized the influence of the second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (September, 1958) on Senmonbukaiʼs drafting of the B-plan; but in addition to this, domestic arguments also had a strong influence, such arguments arising from the results of questionnaires that Kakuyugo Kondankai (Nuclear Fusion Research Group) had carried out about how to proceed with nuclear fusion research, and the insistence of some researchers, especially experimentalists, that the B-plan should be carried out as “basic research of engineering.” At first, many Senmonbukai members approved the implementation of the B-plan. However, Kakuyugo Kenkyu-iinkai (the B-plan committee) did not resolve a type of the B-plan device. Therefore, some Senmonbukai members changed an opinion and didnʼt agree with the B-plan. Subsequently, the B-plan was postponed.
著者
松野 誠也
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.58, no.290, pp.144-161, 2019 (Released:2021-01-24)

The Japanese Imperial Army worked on the production of liquid chlorine when it began research and development of chemical weapons that appeared in the WWI. The objective was to have liquid chlorine produced by commercial companies and delivered to the army. However, this project failed because of the high costs and lack of demand for the product in the civilian sector. Subsequently, the Japanese Imperial Army took up the challenge to procure the regular supply of liquid chlorine through dual use. This was made possible because disarmament allowed for increases in the research budget. It was also based on the initiative of Colonel Taneki Hisamura, who investigated in detail the chemical combat capabilities of European countries and the United States. Japan deemed it essential to realize the production of liquid chlorine in order to secure the raw material of the chemical agent. Having a total war in mind, Hisamura hoped that the liquid chlorine industry would cooperate with the military in times of war. His plan was to develop bleach that used liquid chlorine as the raw material. He believed that, if such a product spread, the civilian demand for liquid chlorine would soon expand. In the case of Japan, the dual use promoted by the army succeeded in the development of the liquid chlorine industry. In this way, the Japanese Imperial Army built a system that enabled mass production of liquid chlorine in peacetime.
著者
矢口 直英
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.57, no.288, pp.250-265, 2019 (Released:2021-01-24)

The astronomer, physician, philosopher, Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 1311), known as the author of Commentary on the Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sīnā (d. 1037), wrote a short treatise on medical ethics, Explanation of the Need for Medicine and Physicians. In this article, I elucidate how Shīrāzī explained the need for medicine, and point out the characteristic of his argument. In Chapter One of the work, Shīrāzī argued for the need for medicine on the basis of both the rational and the traditional argument. The rational argument derived from Greek philosophy. In the traditional argument, on the other hand, he cited Qur'an and a number of the Prophetic sayings and deeds (ḥadīth), and concluded that medicine is a duty of the whole community of Muslims. The characteristic of this latter type of argument can be illuminated by comparing Shīrāzīʼs treatise with those of his predecessors. First, some texts in the genre of “Prophetic medicine” collected medical knowledge for believers, but did not discuss extensively the need or legitimacy of medicine. Second, treatises on medical ethics written before Shīrāzīʼs did not argue for the need for medicine on the basis of Islamic tradition. This contrast demonstrates that Shīrāzī deliberately departed from his predecessors in making his traditional side of argument.
著者
平岡 隆二
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.58, no.289, pp.2-21, 2019 (Released:2021-01-24)

The Tianjing huowen 天経或問 of You Yi 游藝 (fl. 17C.) is a book on natural philosophy, composed under strong influence from the scholarly circle led by Fang Yizhi 方以智 (1611-1671) in the Jiangnan region. Although this book is known to have been more widely distributed in Japan than in China, no extensive survey of its textual exemplars has so far been carried out. Based on a survey of existing printed editions and manuscripts of the book, this paper seeks 1) to specify the most important exemplars useful for restoring the text of the book, and 2) to clarify the aspects of this bookʼs textual production and circulation, especially in Japan, where the majority of surviving exemplars are found.
著者
舘野 淳
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.58, no.289, pp.22-38, 2019 (Released:2021-01-24)

In early 1950s USAEC launched the strategic step of R&D named “Power Reactor Demonstration Program” in the nuclear power reactors development. The purpose of the program was to enlist private resources to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of power reactors. In this program, the light water reactors established a basic design concept in a short development period, but it was economically unsuccessful. After that, reactor manufacturers were able to make light water reactors successful products by pursuing economic efficiency by means of increasing the scale and the power density of reactors, though these reactors were technologically unmature. Such procedure of the development led to weakness of the reactors in safety, that is, core melting due to loss of cooling function.