Bilim tarihinin tarihinde "küresel" kavramı üzerine fikir yürüten bu çalışma, ayrıca bununla iliş... more Bilim tarihinin tarihinde "küresel" kavramı üzerine fikir yürüten bu çalışma, ayrıca bununla ilişkili ve fakat eşit derecede belirleyici bir başka kavramı, "Batılı bilim" kavramını incelemektedir. Bu düşüncenin 19. yüzyıldaki yükselişini izleyerek Batı-dışı dünyada da en az Batı'da olduğu kadar geliştiğini göstermektedir. Kavramın kendisi bilim tarihinin disiplinel oluşumu açısından çok önemli iken, işe bakın ki, bu öykünün ardındaki küresel tarih o kadar da belirleyici değildir. Meseleye 19. yüzyıl Mısır ve Çin'inden örneklerden hareketle yaklaşan çalışma, bilgi üretiminin uluslararası taşıyıcılarının (yani misyonerler ve teknokratlar) özgün şecereler inşâ edip kavramsal bir kümeleme işlemi vasıtasıyla yeni küresel bilim tarihlerini nasıl yarattığına bakarak başlamaktadır. Ardından ilk profesyonel bilim tarihçilerinin çalışmalarına yönelerek, günümüzde "Batılı bilim"de sonra eren tarihî ve evrensel teleolojinin bir parçası olarak görülen Arapça ve Çince bilme geleneklerinin modern bilimlerin ışığında nasıl da benzer şekilde yeniden yorumlandığını göstermektedir. Böylelikle bilim tarihi ile dünyadaki bilme gelenekleri arasındaki ilişki ile alakalı anahtar sorulara işaret edip küresel bilim tarihlerine yönelik arayışı sürdürmekle birlikte, Batılı bilim düşüncesinin küresel ölçekte ortaya çıkışının tetkikini tartışarak sona ermektedir. "Bilim" teriminin-farklı dönemler, coğrafyalar ve epistemolojik gelenekler tarafından paylaşılan-olumsallığı, bilim tarihçilerinin yapmış ve yapmakta oldukları çalışmaların her zaman açık olmadığı anlamına gelir. Bu, ortaçağ âlimlerinin ve ilk modernistlerin uzun süre tartıştıkları bir nokta olup sorgu nesnesini tarihselleştirerek ve özellikle modern bilimin ötesinde modernin
This essay looks at the problem of the global circulation of modem scientific knowledge by lookin... more This essay looks at the problem of the global circulation of modem scientific knowledge by looking at science translations in modern Arabic. In the commercial centers of the late Ottoman Empire, emerging transnational networks lay behind the development of new communities of knowledge, many of which sought to break with old linguistic and literary norms to redefine the basis of their authority. Far from acting as neutral purveyors of "universal truths," scientific translations thus served as key instruments in this ongoing process of sociopolitical and epistemological transformation and mediation. Fierce debates over translators' linguistic strategies and choices involved deliberations over the character of language and the nature of "science" itself. They were also crucially shaped by such geopolitical factors as the rise of European imperialism and anticolonial nationalism in the region. The essay concludes by arguing for the need for greater attention to the local factors involved in the translation of scientific concepts across borders.
... Marwa Elshakry 1. Top of page Abstract. People from Egypt to Japan used Darwin's ide... more ... Marwa Elshakry 1. Top of page Abstract. People from Egypt to Japan used Darwin's ideas to reinvent and reignite their core philosophies and religions, says Marwa Elshakry in the first of four weekly pieces on how evolution was received around the world. ...
Over the last century and a half, discussions of Darwin in Arabic have involved a complex intertw... more Over the last century and a half, discussions of Darwin in Arabic have involved a complex intertwining of sources of authority. This paper reads one of the earliest Muslim responses to modern evolution against those in more recent times to show how questions of epistemology and exegesis have been critically revisited. This involved, on the one hand, the resuscitation of long-standing debates over claims regarding the nature of evidence, certainty, and doubt, and on the other, arguments about the use (and limits) of reason in relation to scripture. Categories of knowledge and belief, alongside methods of scriptural hermeneutics, were repositioned in the process, transforming the meaning and discursive reach of the former as much as the latter. Indeed, this paper argues that the long-run engagement with Darwin in Arabic led to the mutual transformation of both "science" and "religion," whether as objects of knowledge (and belief) or as general discursive formations.
While thinking about the notion of the "global" in the history of the history of science, this es... more While thinking about the notion of the "global" in the history of the history of science, this essay examines a related but equally basic concept: the idea of "Western science." Tracing its rise in the nineteenth century, it shows how it developed as much outside the Western world as within it. Ironically, while the idea itself was crucial for the disciplinary formation of the history of science, the global history behind this story has not been much attended to. Drawing on examples from nineteenth-century Egypt and China, the essay begins by looking at how international vectors of knowledge production (viz., missionaries and technocrats) created new global histories of science through the construction of novel genealogies and through a process of conceptual syncretism. Turning next to the work of early professional historians of science, it shows how Arabic and Chinese knowledge traditions were similarly reinterpreted in light of the modern sciences, now viewed as part of a diachronic and universalist teleology ending in "Western science." It concludes by arguing that examining the global emergence of the idea of Western science in this way highlights key questions pertaining to the relation of the history of science to knowledge traditions across the world and the continuing search for global histories of science.
Part II Volume 5: New Audiences for Science: Women, Children, Labourers Thomas Twining, Science M... more Part II Volume 5: New Audiences for Science: Women, Children, Labourers Thomas Twining, Science Made Easy (1876) Women: Mary Roberts, The Wonders of the Vegetable Kingdom Displayed, 2nd edn (1824) 'M S R', 'The Englishwoman in London: I: Dr Elisabeth Blackwell' (1859) 'M S R', 'The Englishwoman in London: VII: The Sanitary Movement' (1859) Lydia Ernestine Becker, 'On the Study of Science by Women' (1869) Richard Anthony Proctor, 'Mrs Somerville' (1871) Henry Maudsley vs Elizabeth Garrett Anderson: Henry Maudsley, 'Sex in Mind and Education' (1874) Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, 'Sex in Mind and Education: A Reply' (1874) John Law [Margaret E Harkness], A City Girl: A Realistic Story (1887) Sophia Jex-Blake, 'Medical Women in Fiction' (1893) Children: Thomas C Girton (ed), The House I Live In (1837) Henry Mayhew, The Wonders of Science (1858) John Henry Pepper, 'Aerostation' (1861) [H Frederick Charles], ...
In 1882 Edwin Lewis delivered a graduation speech on "Science, Knowledge, Wisdom." An instructor ... more In 1882 Edwin Lewis delivered a graduation speech on "Science, Knowledge, Wisdom." An instructor of chemistry at the interdenominational Protestant "mission school" in Beirut (later renamed the American University of Beirut), the moral of his speech was straightforward enough: through the collection of facts-or knowledge-a systematic study of things, or science, could be established; wisdom, however, was knowledge of a different, higher or supernal order. In this respect it could be seen as a typical missionary translation project, turning 'ilm (the broadest word in Arabic for "knowledge") into "science"-a distinct epistemological order that involved both the gathering of the knowledge (ma' arifa) of things and the construction of causal theories: "Science searches in nature for the causes of events and places them in their correct context." Hikma-or wisdom-was set aside all together, essentially as knowledge of the divine: as Lewis wrote, "no telescope will show us God, no microscope will show us the soul of man, and no chemistry will disclose the secrets of life." 1 One might assume that this categorization of knowledge, science, and wisdom was orthodox enough by the standards of Lewis' community. Unfortunately, his example of the transformation of knowledge into science was clearly not. For it was none other than Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection that Lewis referred to as the prime model of a studious, accurate collection of facts turned into a causal theory of nature or "science." Senior missionary instructors (and eventually New England board members) objected vociferously to the mention of Darwin. Amidst a growing bonanza of press debates and student protests, Lewis was eventually dismissed. The "Lewis Affair," as the incident came to be known, has since served as a well-known and much discussed anecdote of Arabic debates on evolution in the late nineteenth century. Indeed, there is much about the incident that is striking, if not paradoxical. It was thanks to American missionaries, after all, that the first press storm around Darwin's theory of evolution broke out in Arabic. Ironically, they belonged to the very same group of men and women who for decades prior had been proselytizing the modern sciences as an antidote to religious superstition, dogmatism, and irrationality. Yet the lecture-translated into and delivered in Arabic-was perhaps even more striking in terms of its very subject: namely the distinctions between knowledge (ma' arifa), science ('ilm), and wisdom (hikma). The creative transformation of the Arabic words used to translate each was indeed strikingly novel. As "knowledge," ma' arifa was denuded of its gnostic implications and given a more empiricist twist: knowledge, Lewis repeatedly emphasized, came through the systematic collection of facts. All knowledge was therefore propositional. In the vast corpus of classical and post classical Arabic discussions of ma' arifa, this criterion did not apply; ideas of "gnosis" across multiple language traditions could scarcely be thought to follow either. Placed within its classical lexicon, moreover, 'ilm had an equally complex genealogy that referred primarily to the knowledge of "definite things," a broad categorization that encompassed both revealed and acquired knowledge and could thus be variously equated with the knower or the known, with comprehending and obtaining, perception and apperception, or intuition and even believing. But Lewis glossed over all that in order to similarly redefine 'ilm as "science." Putting aside lexicographical nuances and traditions of classification over multiple languages and disparate places and times, the key message Lewis wanted to impart to his students was the idea that science was a
Bilim tarihinin tarihinde "küresel" kavramı üzerine fikir yürüten bu çalışma, ayrıca bununla iliş... more Bilim tarihinin tarihinde "küresel" kavramı üzerine fikir yürüten bu çalışma, ayrıca bununla ilişkili ve fakat eşit derecede belirleyici bir başka kavramı, "Batılı bilim" kavramını incelemektedir. Bu düşüncenin 19. yüzyıldaki yükselişini izleyerek Batı-dışı dünyada da en az Batı'da olduğu kadar geliştiğini göstermektedir. Kavramın kendisi bilim tarihinin disiplinel oluşumu açısından çok önemli iken, işe bakın ki, bu öykünün ardındaki küresel tarih o kadar da belirleyici değildir. Meseleye 19. yüzyıl Mısır ve Çin'inden örneklerden hareketle yaklaşan çalışma, bilgi üretiminin uluslararası taşıyıcılarının (yani misyonerler ve teknokratlar) özgün şecereler inşâ edip kavramsal bir kümeleme işlemi vasıtasıyla yeni küresel bilim tarihlerini nasıl yarattığına bakarak başlamaktadır. Ardından ilk profesyonel bilim tarihçilerinin çalışmalarına yönelerek, günümüzde "Batılı bilim"de sonra eren tarihî ve evrensel teleolojinin bir parçası olarak görülen Arapça ve Çince bilme geleneklerinin modern bilimlerin ışığında nasıl da benzer şekilde yeniden yorumlandığını göstermektedir. Böylelikle bilim tarihi ile dünyadaki bilme gelenekleri arasındaki ilişki ile alakalı anahtar sorulara işaret edip küresel bilim tarihlerine yönelik arayışı sürdürmekle birlikte, Batılı bilim düşüncesinin küresel ölçekte ortaya çıkışının tetkikini tartışarak sona ermektedir. "Bilim" teriminin-farklı dönemler, coğrafyalar ve epistemolojik gelenekler tarafından paylaşılan-olumsallığı, bilim tarihçilerinin yapmış ve yapmakta oldukları çalışmaların her zaman açık olmadığı anlamına gelir. Bu, ortaçağ âlimlerinin ve ilk modernistlerin uzun süre tartıştıkları bir nokta olup sorgu nesnesini tarihselleştirerek ve özellikle modern bilimin ötesinde modernin
This essay looks at the problem of the global circulation of modem scientific knowledge by lookin... more This essay looks at the problem of the global circulation of modem scientific knowledge by looking at science translations in modern Arabic. In the commercial centers of the late Ottoman Empire, emerging transnational networks lay behind the development of new communities of knowledge, many of which sought to break with old linguistic and literary norms to redefine the basis of their authority. Far from acting as neutral purveyors of "universal truths," scientific translations thus served as key instruments in this ongoing process of sociopolitical and epistemological transformation and mediation. Fierce debates over translators' linguistic strategies and choices involved deliberations over the character of language and the nature of "science" itself. They were also crucially shaped by such geopolitical factors as the rise of European imperialism and anticolonial nationalism in the region. The essay concludes by arguing for the need for greater attention to the local factors involved in the translation of scientific concepts across borders.
... Marwa Elshakry 1. Top of page Abstract. People from Egypt to Japan used Darwin's ide... more ... Marwa Elshakry 1. Top of page Abstract. People from Egypt to Japan used Darwin's ideas to reinvent and reignite their core philosophies and religions, says Marwa Elshakry in the first of four weekly pieces on how evolution was received around the world. ...
Over the last century and a half, discussions of Darwin in Arabic have involved a complex intertw... more Over the last century and a half, discussions of Darwin in Arabic have involved a complex intertwining of sources of authority. This paper reads one of the earliest Muslim responses to modern evolution against those in more recent times to show how questions of epistemology and exegesis have been critically revisited. This involved, on the one hand, the resuscitation of long-standing debates over claims regarding the nature of evidence, certainty, and doubt, and on the other, arguments about the use (and limits) of reason in relation to scripture. Categories of knowledge and belief, alongside methods of scriptural hermeneutics, were repositioned in the process, transforming the meaning and discursive reach of the former as much as the latter. Indeed, this paper argues that the long-run engagement with Darwin in Arabic led to the mutual transformation of both "science" and "religion," whether as objects of knowledge (and belief) or as general discursive formations.
While thinking about the notion of the "global" in the history of the history of science, this es... more While thinking about the notion of the "global" in the history of the history of science, this essay examines a related but equally basic concept: the idea of "Western science." Tracing its rise in the nineteenth century, it shows how it developed as much outside the Western world as within it. Ironically, while the idea itself was crucial for the disciplinary formation of the history of science, the global history behind this story has not been much attended to. Drawing on examples from nineteenth-century Egypt and China, the essay begins by looking at how international vectors of knowledge production (viz., missionaries and technocrats) created new global histories of science through the construction of novel genealogies and through a process of conceptual syncretism. Turning next to the work of early professional historians of science, it shows how Arabic and Chinese knowledge traditions were similarly reinterpreted in light of the modern sciences, now viewed as part of a diachronic and universalist teleology ending in "Western science." It concludes by arguing that examining the global emergence of the idea of Western science in this way highlights key questions pertaining to the relation of the history of science to knowledge traditions across the world and the continuing search for global histories of science.
Part II Volume 5: New Audiences for Science: Women, Children, Labourers Thomas Twining, Science M... more Part II Volume 5: New Audiences for Science: Women, Children, Labourers Thomas Twining, Science Made Easy (1876) Women: Mary Roberts, The Wonders of the Vegetable Kingdom Displayed, 2nd edn (1824) 'M S R', 'The Englishwoman in London: I: Dr Elisabeth Blackwell' (1859) 'M S R', 'The Englishwoman in London: VII: The Sanitary Movement' (1859) Lydia Ernestine Becker, 'On the Study of Science by Women' (1869) Richard Anthony Proctor, 'Mrs Somerville' (1871) Henry Maudsley vs Elizabeth Garrett Anderson: Henry Maudsley, 'Sex in Mind and Education' (1874) Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, 'Sex in Mind and Education: A Reply' (1874) John Law [Margaret E Harkness], A City Girl: A Realistic Story (1887) Sophia Jex-Blake, 'Medical Women in Fiction' (1893) Children: Thomas C Girton (ed), The House I Live In (1837) Henry Mayhew, The Wonders of Science (1858) John Henry Pepper, 'Aerostation' (1861) [H Frederick Charles], ...
In 1882 Edwin Lewis delivered a graduation speech on "Science, Knowledge, Wisdom." An instructor ... more In 1882 Edwin Lewis delivered a graduation speech on "Science, Knowledge, Wisdom." An instructor of chemistry at the interdenominational Protestant "mission school" in Beirut (later renamed the American University of Beirut), the moral of his speech was straightforward enough: through the collection of facts-or knowledge-a systematic study of things, or science, could be established; wisdom, however, was knowledge of a different, higher or supernal order. In this respect it could be seen as a typical missionary translation project, turning 'ilm (the broadest word in Arabic for "knowledge") into "science"-a distinct epistemological order that involved both the gathering of the knowledge (ma' arifa) of things and the construction of causal theories: "Science searches in nature for the causes of events and places them in their correct context." Hikma-or wisdom-was set aside all together, essentially as knowledge of the divine: as Lewis wrote, "no telescope will show us God, no microscope will show us the soul of man, and no chemistry will disclose the secrets of life." 1 One might assume that this categorization of knowledge, science, and wisdom was orthodox enough by the standards of Lewis' community. Unfortunately, his example of the transformation of knowledge into science was clearly not. For it was none other than Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection that Lewis referred to as the prime model of a studious, accurate collection of facts turned into a causal theory of nature or "science." Senior missionary instructors (and eventually New England board members) objected vociferously to the mention of Darwin. Amidst a growing bonanza of press debates and student protests, Lewis was eventually dismissed. The "Lewis Affair," as the incident came to be known, has since served as a well-known and much discussed anecdote of Arabic debates on evolution in the late nineteenth century. Indeed, there is much about the incident that is striking, if not paradoxical. It was thanks to American missionaries, after all, that the first press storm around Darwin's theory of evolution broke out in Arabic. Ironically, they belonged to the very same group of men and women who for decades prior had been proselytizing the modern sciences as an antidote to religious superstition, dogmatism, and irrationality. Yet the lecture-translated into and delivered in Arabic-was perhaps even more striking in terms of its very subject: namely the distinctions between knowledge (ma' arifa), science ('ilm), and wisdom (hikma). The creative transformation of the Arabic words used to translate each was indeed strikingly novel. As "knowledge," ma' arifa was denuded of its gnostic implications and given a more empiricist twist: knowledge, Lewis repeatedly emphasized, came through the systematic collection of facts. All knowledge was therefore propositional. In the vast corpus of classical and post classical Arabic discussions of ma' arifa, this criterion did not apply; ideas of "gnosis" across multiple language traditions could scarcely be thought to follow either. Placed within its classical lexicon, moreover, 'ilm had an equally complex genealogy that referred primarily to the knowledge of "definite things," a broad categorization that encompassed both revealed and acquired knowledge and could thus be variously equated with the knower or the known, with comprehending and obtaining, perception and apperception, or intuition and even believing. But Lewis glossed over all that in order to similarly redefine 'ilm as "science." Putting aside lexicographical nuances and traditions of classification over multiple languages and disparate places and times, the key message Lewis wanted to impart to his students was the idea that science was a
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