Making the Pacific, Making Japanese-U.S. Relations

Abstract

This special issue of Pacific Historical Review, “Making the Pacific, Making Japanese-U.S. Relations: Science and Technology as Historical Agents in the Twentieth Century,” is guest edited by Martin Collins and Teasel Muir-Harmony. The special issue gives prominence to science and technology as sources of agency inextricably bound to the modern project—and thus bound to another expression of the modern, the nation state and its interrelation with other states. In the modern context, scientific and technical knowledge, practices, and things are fundamental to composing more robust historical accounts, including accounts of the nation state. This interpretive frame is vital in understanding the Japan-U.S. relationship in the twentieth century and the critical role of the Pacific Ocean therein. The special issue includes a preface from Marc S. Rodriguez, this introduction by Martin Collins, and articles by Daqing Yang on wireless telegraphy, Chihyung Jeon on postwar trans-Pacific air flight, Teasel Muir-Harmony on the U.S. spaceflight display at the 1970 Osaka World Exposition, and Colin Garvey on the international race to develop artificial intelligence.