Description
During the early decades of the Cold War, the People's Republic of China remained outside much of mainstream international science. Nevertheless, Chinese scientists found alternative channels through which to communicate and interact with counterparts across the world, beyond simple East/West divides. By examining the international activities of elite Chinese scientists, Gordon Barrett demonstrates that these activities were deeply embedded in the Chinese Communist Party's wider efforts to win hearts and minds from the 1940s to the 1970s. Using a wide range of archival material, including declassified documents from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archive, Barrett provides fresh insights into the relationship between science and foreign relations in the People's Republic of China.
The first extended study of Chinese engagement in international science during the Cold War.
About the Author
Gordon Barrett is Departmental Lecturer in Modern Chinese History and Politics at University of Oxford.
Reviews
'Original, deeply researched, masterful: Barrett's compelling and well-written volume provides new insights into China's influence on Cold War scientific internationalism.' Ronald E. Doel, Florida State University
'This sophisticated and lucid study is a major addition to scholarship on Mao-era China. It illuminates how - decades before the People's Republic of China emerged as a science and technology superpower - the country created an international position for itself through scientific engagement. Gordon Barrett's new book is the go-to work on this essential topic.' Julia Lovell, Birkbeck University of London
'Based on extensive archival research, this book demonstrates the significance of Mao-era science diplomacy-from the Pugwash conferences, to the World Federation of Science Workers, to the Peking Science Symposia and beyond. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the roots of China's rise in international science and technology.' Sigrid Schmalzer, University of Massachusetts Amherst
'Gordon Barrett has probed deeply into a variety of sources in writing this interesting and suggestive book. He offers new insights into how science served China's united-front operations ... the study also prompts us to think more carefully about science and international affairs in our current era of transnational science and technology.' Richard P. Suttmeier, H-Sci-Med-Tech
'In this ambitious analysis of Bavarian tourism from the early nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth, Adam T. Rosenbaum offers fresh language for making sense of the German encounter with modernity.' Robert Terrell, H-TGS (h-net.org)
'Gordon Barrett has probed deeply into a variety of sources in writing this interesting and suggestive book. He offers new insights into how science served China's united-front operations in the period leading up to the establishment of the People's Republic.' Richard P. Suttmeier, H-Sci-Med-Tech (h-net.org)
'I found this book particularly interesting, not simply for the quality of its scholarship, but also for the light it throws on the dynamics of transnational knowledge flows that are often obscured in studies of science diplomacy.' John Krige, The British Journal of the History of Science
'Anyone interested in scientific aspects of China's recent history will find this a well-documented and informative work. ... This book begins with a detailed description of how China organized science following WWII, supporting the goals of the Chinese Communist Party, and how it aligned itself with the World Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW) between 1946 and 1956. ... Highly recommended.' J. W. Dauben, Choice
Book Information
ISBN 9781108844574
Author Gordon Barrett
Format Hardback
Page Count 300
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 550g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 157mm * 21mm
The first extended study of Chinese engagement in international science during the Cold War.
About the Author
Gordon Barrett is Departmental Lecturer in Modern Chinese History and Politics at University of Oxford.
Reviews
'Original, deeply researched, masterful: Barrett's compelling and well-written volume provides new insights into China's influence on Cold War scientific internationalism.' Ronald E. Doel, Florida State University
'This sophisticated and lucid study is a major addition to scholarship on Mao-era China. It illuminates how - decades before the People's Republic of China emerged as a science and technology superpower - the country created an international position for itself through scientific engagement. Gordon Barrett's new book is the go-to work on this essential topic.' Julia Lovell, Birkbeck University of London
'Based on extensive archival research, this book demonstrates the significance of Mao-era science diplomacy-from the Pugwash conferences, to the World Federation of Science Workers, to the Peking Science Symposia and beyond. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the roots of China's rise in international science and technology.' Sigrid Schmalzer, University of Massachusetts Amherst
'Gordon Barrett has probed deeply into a variety of sources in writing this interesting and suggestive book. He offers new insights into how science served China's united-front operations ... the study also prompts us to think more carefully about science and international affairs in our current era of transnational science and technology.' Richard P. Suttmeier, H-Sci-Med-Tech
'In this ambitious analysis of Bavarian tourism from the early nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth, Adam T. Rosenbaum offers fresh language for making sense of the German encounter with modernity.' Robert Terrell, H-TGS (h-net.org)
'Gordon Barrett has probed deeply into a variety of sources in writing this interesting and suggestive book. He offers new insights into how science served China's united-front operations in the period leading up to the establishment of the People's Republic.' Richard P. Suttmeier, H-Sci-Med-Tech (h-net.org)
'I found this book particularly interesting, not simply for the quality of its scholarship, but also for the light it throws on the dynamics of transnational knowledge flows that are often obscured in studies of science diplomacy.' John Krige, The British Journal of the History of Science
'Anyone interested in scientific aspects of China's recent history will find this a well-documented and informative work. ... This book begins with a detailed description of how China organized science following WWII, supporting the goals of the Chinese Communist Party, and how it aligned itself with the World Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW) between 1946 and 1956. ... Highly recommended.' J. W. Dauben, Choice
Book Information
ISBN 9781108844574
Author Gordon Barrett
Format Hardback
Page Count 300
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 550g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 157mm * 21mm
