Murky Waters

Abstract

Historians of science in modern China have tried to challenge misconceptions that late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Chinese were slow to master science or, worse, that they missed the point of science altogether. In so doing, we have often put aside basic questions-like why Chinese were interested in modern science in the first place or how they found modern science useful for their own purposes-in order to demonstrate the quality and advancement of scientific work in China. But overlooking these underlying issues not only strengthens the myth of science as an obvious and inevitable step in development; it also limits the relevance of the Chinese case to the history of science more broadly. If, instead, the spread of science is reconceptualized as a problem of desire and utility, the Chinese example may suggest interesting new avenues for the study of cultural innovation across geographic and disciplinary frameworks.