More than 1,000 world science historians convened in Beijing Saturday to discuss science and technology development and its interactions with globalization and diversity.
Lu Yongxiang, vice chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, said at an inaugural to the 22nd International Congress of History of Science that Albert Einstein a century ago created the Theory of Relativity and hence inserted a great impact to the scientific community and the world as a whole.
A total of 600 years ago, said Lu, also president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Zheng He, a Chinese general of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), led an imperial fleet for the world's first global voyage.
"The first marine exploration by Chinese did not necessarily mean scientific revolution would occur first in China," said Lu, citing that China lagged far behind Western powers in science and technology at modern times, which was clearly explained by well-known British science historian Dr. Joseph Needham.
Lu said, discussions in the coming week in Beijing among global science historians might strengthen human beings' understanding on essence of science and offer help to share valuable experience between different countries.
He said the Chinese tradition, or the Confucian tradition, always places history and classics as the most important part of human knowledge. Learning history will help people to find ways for the future, he said.
Since its establishment in 1929, the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science's Division of History of Science has never organized any congress in China before this one. Only five countries other than European ones hosted such an event.
Liu Dun, vice executive president of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science's Division of History of Science, said, "Science is always regarded as originating from the Western culture and the non-Western origins of science are always ignored."
Liu, who also heads the CAS Institute of History of Natural Science said he hopes those non-Western features of science history would be shown at the congress, with a theme of "Globalization and Diversity: Diffusion of Science and Technology throughout History".
Some plenary lectures will show such diversity, including "Transmission of Islamic Exact Science to India and its Neighbors and Repercussions Thereof" by Razaullah Ansari of India, "Moral and Political Significance of Nature in Ancient China" by Sun Xiaochun of China, and "The Development of the Number System in Mathematics in Ancient Iraq" by Khalid Salim Ismael of Iraq.
The seven-day congress will organize several work meetings, 36 scientific sections, 62 symposia and two public lectures.
(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2005)
