The Sakata model was but one aspect of Shoichi Sakata's life and achievements. To better understa... more The Sakata model was but one aspect of Shoichi Sakata's life and achievements. To better understand the context in which the model was developed, this paper outlines various aspects of his career, from family background and education, scientific work, friendship with Mituo Taketani, involvement in policymaking, and role of the Elementary Particle Theory Group. It is only then that we can truly appreciate the Sakata model and Sakata's importance to Japan.
There have been two Japanese Nobel laureates in chemistry, three in physics, and one in the categ... more There have been two Japanese Nobel laureates in chemistry, three in physics, and one in the category of medicine or physiology. This relatively small number has been attributed to shortcomings in Japanese science. The award of the Physics Prize in 1949 to Hideki Yukawa and to his colleague Sin'itirô Tomonaga in 1965 gave public evidence of how Japanese could make outstanding individual contributions to science. Paradoxically, the Prize also reinforced a belief that such men formed part of a traditional hierarchical system. This essay examines how the Nobel Prize has been represented in Japan.
Japan's secret war? ‘Instant’ scientific manpower and Japan's World War II atomic bomb project
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 00033799000200281, Aug 23, 2006
... to assist in scientific research, t4 On 5 September, 1944, the Standing Committee for Army an... more ... to assist in scientific research, t4 On 5 September, 1944, the Standing Committee for Army and Naval Technology (Riku-kai-gun Gijutsu UnyS ... 2,t For example, see Shimpei Miyata, Kaoaku-sha-tachi no Jiy~-na Rakuen: Krei no Rikaoaku Kenky~-jo (The Scientists" Paradise ...
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 1993
THE BOOKS under review, although all published recently, actually provide a cross-section of the ... more THE BOOKS under review, although all published recently, actually provide a cross-section of the history of East Asian science over the past fifteen years and suggest areas which need to be addressed by the profession.
Shigeru Nakayama, Science, technology and society in postwar Japan, Japanese Studies Series, London and New York, Kegan Paul International, 1991, pp. xv, 259, £45.00 (0-7103-0428-5)
Historia Scientiarum Second Series International Journal of the History of Science Society of Japan, 2011
In the Edo period (c. 1600-1868), exposure to Western art, science and technology encouraged Japa... more In the Edo period (c. 1600-1868), exposure to Western art, science and technology encouraged Japanese 'ukiyo-e' (pictures of the floating world) artists to experiment with Western perspective in woodblock prints and book illustrations. We can see its early influence in the work of Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858), as well as Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861). Unlike Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi lived to see the opening of the port of Yokohama to trade with the West in 1859. A whole genre of Yokohama prints emerged and one of the key artists was Utagawa Sadahide (1807-1873). In his illustrated books entitled 'Yokohama kaikō kenbunshi' (A Record of Things Seen and Heard in the Open Port of Yokohama) (1862), Sadahide plays with perspective in an effort to represent the dynamic changes that Japan was undergoing in its encounter with the West at the time. In the work of later artists such as Hiroshige III (1843-1894), Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) and Inoue Yasuji (1864-1889), we can see growing efforts to depict light, shadow and depth, and a continuing fascination with the steam locomotive and the changes occurring in the Tokyo-Yokohama region as Japan entered the Meiji period (1868-1912).
History and Technology: Special issue - Visions of the Atomic Age: Towards a Comparative Perspective
... Title of journal, History and Technology: Special issue - Visions of the Atomic Age: Towards ... more ... Title of journal, History and Technology: Special issue - Visions of the Atomic Age: Towards a Comparative Perspective. Editor(s), Morris Low Robert Kargon. Publication date, 2003-09. Volume number, 19. Issue number, 3. ISSN, 1477-2620 (electronic); 0734-1512 (paper). ...
The impact of western science and technology on 'ukiyo-e' prints and book illustrations in late eighteenth and nineteenth century Japan
Historia scientiarum : international journal of the History of Science Society of Japan, 2011
In the Edo period (c. 1600-1868), exposure to Western art, science and technology encouraged Japa... more In the Edo period (c. 1600-1868), exposure to Western art, science and technology encouraged Japanese 'ukiyo-e' (pictures of the floating world) artists to experiment with Western perspective in woodblock prints and book illustrations. We can see its early influence in the work of Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858), as well as Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861). Unlike Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi lived to see the opening of the port of Yokohama to trade with the West in 1859. A whole genre of Yokohama prints emerged and one of the key artists was Utagawa Sadahide (1807-1873). In his illustrated books entitled 'Yokohama kaikō kenbunshi' (A Record of Things Seen and Heard in the Open Port of Yokohama) (1862), Sadahide plays with perspective in an effort to represent the dynamic changes that Japan was undergoing in its encounter with the West at the time. In the work of later artists such as Hiroshige III (1843-1894), Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) and Inoue Yasuji (1864-1889), we can ...
Colonial modernity and networks in the Japanese empire: the role of Gotō Shinpei
Historia scientiarum : international journal of the History of Science Society of Japan, 2010
This paper examines how Gotō Shinpei (1857-1929) sought to develop imperial networks emanating ou... more This paper examines how Gotō Shinpei (1857-1929) sought to develop imperial networks emanating out of Tokyo in the fields of public health, railways, and communications. These areas helped define colonial modernity in the Japanese empire. In public health, Gotō's friendship with the bacteriologist Kitasato Shibasaburō led to the establishment of an Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo. Key scientists from the institute took up positions in colonial medical colleges, creating a public health network that serviced the empire. Much of the empire itself was linked by a network of railways. Gotō was the first president of the South Manchuria Railway company (SMR). Communication technologies, especially radio, helped to bring the empire closer. By 1925, the Tokyo Broadcasting Station had begun its public radio broadcasts. Broadcasting soon came under the umbrella of the new organization, the Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK). Gotō was NHK's first president. The empire would soon be li...
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