Nineteenth-century Japanese and British science in context: an introduction to transnational-comparative studies

Abstract

This special issue focuses on the complex cultural connections between Japanese and British science in the nineteenth century. This was a period when intellectuals around the globe began to interact more intensively due to increased opportunities to travel and the growth in translations of important scientific works into many languages. This was also an era when, in the latter part of the century, Japanese intellectuals were searching for ways to modernize their culture, while in Britain there was a renewed interest in Japanese culture and religion as traditional forms of thought were being questioned. Although there has been some excellent scholarly work on the impact of British evolutionary theory on Japanese intellectuals, the fuller picture of cultural exchange across all the sciences has yet to be undertaken. This special issue will begin to close this historiographical gap by examining the intersection of nineteenth-century Japanese and British science across a range of disciplines from engineering, chemistry and physics to biology, sociology and anthropology.