The Beginning of the Japanese Zoological Journal(<Special Issue>History of Medicine and Biology in East Asia)

概要

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With the Meiji era, the beginning of the modern era in Japan in 1868, the Japanese government started to import science from Europe. Although Japan has its indigenous natural history (Honzo), evolution theory, cell theory, embryology and other fields of modern biology were all absent from the Japanese scientific tradition. Indispensable methods and instruments for modern biological research, for example microscopic studies, were also new to the Japanese of the early Meiji era. The history of science in any developing country is in many ways the history of the introduction of knowledge from developed countries. The lectures of foreign professors in Japanese universities, Japanese researchers, who had studied science in Europe or America, and the translation of influential textbooks or articles have been regarded as the key to the modernization of Japanese sciences. But building a professional system of research and education, and establishing scientific communities are essential to the continual production and dissemination of knowledge. Academic journals have a central place in such a system. This article surveys the first decade of the Japanese zoological journal Dobutsugaku Zasshi, or Zoological Magazine in English from 1888 to 1898. It makes clear the significance of this journal, and shows that from its earliest years, the academic journal had many meanings and goals.
日本科学史学会の論文
2004-03-29