This paper investigates how European maps of Asia, produced between the 16th and 19th centuries, shaped and evolved the Western understanding of Asian geography. By analyzing a selection of 44 Asian maps, this study considers four primary perspectives: political relations, cultural perceptions, geographical boundaries, and map projection methods. This approach aims to illustrate how advancements in European cartography influenced conceptions of Asian space. First, the paper examines the impact of the historical contexts of European geographical discoveries, the development of trade, religious exchange on the mapping of Asia. These factors collectively contributed to the evolving concept of Asia as a distinct entirety. Then, the study explores how European innovations in projection methods, moving from polyconic projections to Bonne projection, reduced distortion and improved visual accuracy on Asian maps. This transition reflects the European cartographic desire for precision and the influence of improved technology on representations of map space. Finally, the paper traces the historical changes in Asia-Europe boundaries, detailing the specific processes and reasons for the changes in the continental boundaries during this period. By comparing projection techniques and geographic details from multiple perspectives, this paper reveals the political power dynamics conveyed through cartography and historical backgrounds. It provides a fresh perspective on Asian maps from the 16th to 19th centuries, demonstrating their role as tools of historical and geopolitical insight.

嘉靖 张

The term ‘technoscience’, coined in the 1970s, describes the intrinsic integration of science and technology in contemporary scientific practice, based on the historical assumption that scientific and technological inquiry were distinct endeavors prior to the twentieth century. However, recent scholarship has begun to challenge this interpretation. For instance, Ursula Klein examines the Prussian state’s efforts in the late eighteenth century to systematize technical expertise across fields that encompassed both scientific and technological aspects, including analytical chemistry, metallurgical chemistry, mineralogy, and botany. Klein highlights the emergence of expressions such as ‘useful science’ (nützliche Wissenschaft) and ‘practical science’ (praktische Wissenschaft), arguing that the history of ‘technoscience’ can be traced back to the early modern period.
In this presentation, we investigate an early example of such conceptualizations by naturalists in the Société d'histoire naturelle de Paris during the French Revolutionary period. These naturalists sought to articulate a vision of scientific and technological endeavors for utilitarian purposes, influenced by the intense political climate and the burgeoning sense of patriotism fueled by war. Notably, in 1793, a member of the Société proposed abandoning the term ‘science’ altogether in favor of a new term that would encapsulate the union of arts and sciences. The Société, which brought together Revolutionary naturalists and politicians, became particularly dynamic during the ascendancy of the Montagnards.
Through this case study, we aim to reconstruct a crucial moment in the French history of technoscience during the early modern period and to explore its connections with the emergence of modern patriotism.

The Royal Society faced a serious crisis in the early 19th century, a crisis that was eventually dissipated by the Society through a long period of internal reform. The sociological reasons for the success of the reforms are attributed to the scientific reform of the Royal Society in the mid-19th century. By analyzing the development of British science at that time, it can be found that the aristocratic British scientists in the post-Newtonian era were able to make some quantitative experiments with good accuracy, and their metaphysical ideas played an important role in the research process. Afterwards, Newtonianism was spread through Voltaire in France to form a French Newtonianism, and British science showed a decline as Babbage said. In fact, British science did not decline during this period, but rather followed the experimental tradition of Bacon's time from single to complex, from crude to elaborate, from metaphysical to scientific, and from isolated to systematic. With the influence of French Newtonianism on British experimental philosophy and the development of scientific theory, British science gradually developed from single experiment to refined experiment, which on the one hand refers to the upgrading of experimental means, and on the other hand refers to the mainstreaming of experiments with systematization and free from the influence of natural philosophy, which led to the formation of a new Baconian experimental philosophy. The neo-Baconian experimental philosophy allowed experimentation to be used again as the primary method of research and no longer as a product of verifying theories.

In 1583, William Mount presented “A shorte declaration of the meaning and use of a perpetualle calendare or almanack” to his boss, Lord Chancellor of England, Thomas Bromley. This paper will dissect Mount's manuscript as two entities: 1) the introductory epistle and justification and 2) the descriptive instructions in the body of the work.

Mount decries recent printed almanacks that “erreth in divinitie, stumbleth in humanitie and writeth loosly...of the holy worde of god.” He complains of unlearned assertions by almanack writers and pre-emptively guards himself against similar charges by peppering his manuscript with biblical and philosophical references. Examining Mount’s use of authority (including references to the Geneva Bible) and considering the contemporaries he lists by name (e.g., Digges, Buckminster) and those he alludes to anonymously, will inform an investigation of his place in debates about the utility and dangers of astrological prognostication.

Next, the paper will examine the scientific body: the descriptive rules and advice set out in eleven chapters detailing precisely how to use Mount’s multipart perpetual calendar and almanack. This section is methodical and employs neutral language. Mount sets out clear and precise instructions and examples that profess to help his benefactor understand and use complex tools of calculation.

The paper will reveal how Mount played into contemporary debates in which astrology, philosophy, and religion were intertwined. His instructions have an air of practicality, yet it is clear that in the 1580s context, astrological precision was an antidote to the errors Mount referenced in his opening letter.