Journal of History of Science, JAPAN
Online ISSN : 2435-0524
Print ISSN : 2188-7535
Volume 58, Issue 290
Displaying 1-11 of 11 articles from this issue
  • 2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 1-
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese]
    2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 112-125
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    John Harris (ca. 1666-1719) was a fellow of the Royal Society of London. He is known for his masterpiece, Lexicon technicum (1704). As the first encyclopedia written in English, his work enjoyed considerable success and was frequently reprinted through the eighteenth century.  My article examines Harrisʼs compilation method and publishing strategy. I aim to account for his success within its historical and intellectual context. The first section of the article addresses the early history of the Royal Society and the writings of its members, John Evelyn (1620-1706) and John Dryden (1631-1700). Under the influence of academies active in Florence and Paris, they argued that the modern English language had been corrupted by exaggerated expressions. To remedy the situation, they promoted plain style and unified usage of expressions.  The next section focuses on Harrisʼs proposal, entitled Lexicon technicum magnum (1702), so as to interpret his strategy for publication. He used this proposal as a sample to show the typefaces and quality of papers to be used in his planned encyclopedia. He also declared that his compilation was to be sold by subscription in order to avoid financial risks. In addition, he was able to collect a large number of experiments from various dictionaries and journals and summarize them by plain explanation.  Finally this article argues that Harris used his proposal in a very strategic way and reveals that he was heavily influenced by his predecessors not only in England but also in France and other European countries.
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  • [in Japanese]
    2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 126-143
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Japanese researchers who initiated fusion research were of the common view that “fusion research should start from basic research.” However, the A-plan (“developing and realizing new ideas”) and the B-plan (“building medium-sized devices”) proposed in March 1959 by Kakuyugo Senmonbukai (the Special Panel on Nuclear Fusion Research, established in 1958) of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission under the auspices of the Prime Ministerʼs Office took a different view from the above-mentioned common view. These future plans led to an intense dispute that in later years was referred to as the A-B plans dispute. A particular focus of the A-B plans dispute was the B-planʼs aim of building in Japan the type of medium-sized devices that had obtained some success in foreign countries. Many previous studies have emphasized the influence of the second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (September, 1958) on Senmonbukaiʼs drafting of the B-plan; but in addition to this, domestic arguments also had a strong influence, such arguments arising from the results of questionnaires that Kakuyugo Kondankai (Nuclear Fusion Research Group) had carried out about how to proceed with nuclear fusion research, and the insistence of some researchers, especially experimentalists, that the B-plan should be carried out as “basic research of engineering.” At first, many Senmonbukai members approved the implementation of the B-plan. However, Kakuyugo Kenkyu-iinkai (the B-plan committee) did not resolve a type of the B-plan device. Therefore, some Senmonbukai members changed an opinion and didnʼt agree with the B-plan. Subsequently, the B-plan was postponed.
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  • [in Japanese]
    2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 144-161
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The Japanese Imperial Army worked on the production of liquid chlorine when it began research and development of chemical weapons that appeared in the WWI. The objective was to have liquid chlorine produced by commercial companies and delivered to the army. However, this project failed because of the high costs and lack of demand for the product in the civilian sector. Subsequently, the Japanese Imperial Army took up the challenge to procure the regular supply of liquid chlorine through dual use. This was made possible because disarmament allowed for increases in the research budget. It was also based on the initiative of Colonel Taneki Hisamura, who investigated in detail the chemical combat capabilities of European countries and the United States. Japan deemed it essential to realize the production of liquid chlorine in order to secure the raw material of the chemical agent. Having a total war in mind, Hisamura hoped that the liquid chlorine industry would cooperate with the military in times of war. His plan was to develop bleach that used liquid chlorine as the raw material. He believed that, if such a product spread, the civilian demand for liquid chlorine would soon expand. In the case of Japan, the dual use promoted by the army succeeded in the development of the liquid chlorine industry. In this way, the Japanese Imperial Army built a system that enabled mass production of liquid chlorine in peacetime.
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  • [in Japanese]
    2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 162-177
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The "Russell-Einstein Manifesto" issued in 1955, a year after the Bikini incident, called upon the world for the abolition of nuclear weapons and war. It is well known that a similar assertion was made in a journal article in 1946 by Yoshio Nishina, one of Japanʼs prominent nuclear physicists who officially studied the damage of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This paper shows that there were a wide range of arguments in Japan for the abolition and/or renunciation of war in the immediate aftermath of the atomic bombings. Naruhiko Higashikuni, the first Prime Minister after Japanʼs surrender, suggested the idea of "Peaceful Country Japan [Heiwa kokka Nippon]." Tanzan Ishibashi, an influential journalist and future Prime Minister in the 1950s, witnessed a drastic change in international relations caused by the atomic bomb, calling for Japan to become a "warrior for world peace [Sekai heiwa no senshi]." Kanji Ishihara, a former Army lieutenant general and military philosopher, understood that the emergence of atomic bombs and the pursuit of world peace under the United Nations after World War II as a sign of "world political unity [seijiteki sekai toitsu]" that he had anticipated prior to the war. Realizing that the atomic bomb had changed the way of war, Kijuro Shidehara, Prime Minister after Higashikuni, spoke to Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces Douglas MacArthur of the necessity of abolishing and renouncing war. MacArthur incorporated this idea into his demands concerning Japanʼs constitutional revision. All these individuals foresaw the meaning of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution in the context of the nuclear age, hoping that Japan would be a pioneer of war abolition and renouncement.
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  • [in Japanese]
    2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 178-187
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japanese], [in Japane ...
    2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 188-195
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese]
    2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 196-204
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • 2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 205-207
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Download PDF (215K)
  • 2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 208-212
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Download PDF (242K)
  • 2019 Volume 58 Issue 290 Pages 213-
    Published: 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: January 24, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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