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Juan José Saldaña, “Western and non-Western Science: History and Perspectives”, en Science and Cultural Diversity. Filling a Gap in the History of Science, Colección Cuadernos de Quipu núm. 5, México, SLHCT, 2001, pp. 123-144.
Western and non-western science: history and perspectives* •
JUAN JOSÉ SALDANA ** Has a non-western scie nce ever existed? This seemed to be the lirst question lhat the tille 01 this communication suggested. But as we will see, ethnocentrism has been a limitation lor the historical study 01 world science as we ll as to lormulate appropriately a nd give an answer to such a question. At present we know 01 historical evide nces to respond affi rmatively to that question. The history 01 scie nce has been able to sustain, lor example, that in the Chinese, Hindu and Amerindian civilizations origi nal scientilic knowledge that arose totally independent lrom the West took place.' It has also been established that science, as much Western as nonWestern has made a place lor transhistorical and transcultura l processes 01 app ropriation 01 scientilic knowledge, and lor diverse lorms 01 scientilic activity in diffe rent societies. Thanks to that today we know, lor '" Paper presented at the World Conference on Science, ICSU-UNESCO, Budapes~
1999.
,.. Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at National Autonomous Universit y of Mexico. E-mai l :
[email protected] 1. The bibliography on andent science is abundant. Classical studies on ehi·
nese science and cross-cultural diffusion are those of Joseph Needdham 1954, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1985; sorne recent studies on Greek science are : Berna!, 1992; Pingree 1992, Rochberg 1992, Von Staden 1992 ; on Indian science Biot 1969 and Subbarayappa 1971 ; on Islamic science : Rashed 1980, Vernet 1978 ; Sabra, 1996 ; on pre-Columbian science see Garces, 1982.
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example, that Classical G reece was no t th e only/so le source of ratio nal tho ught and scientific knowledge. Th e relationship of C1assical science to cu ltures of the Near and Far East are expressed by the type o f influences that were exercised on it by previous cultures (Egypt, Babylon and C hina) or co ntemporary (India and China). It is cross-cultural p rocesses th at have taken pl ace throu gho ut history, and w hich have ended up constituting one of the main areas or characteri sti cs of science: ecumenism, as Joseph Needham calls il. For the top ic of this intervention, it is necessary to establish the fact that in all societies o f any time and p lace, o ne o r several systems of knowledge abo ut natu ral phenomena suc h as material and energy processes, the ce lestial and climati c changes, soil and minerals, plants and animals, human organisms and their iIInesses, etc. have been present as one of the ce ntral elements o f each culture. Th e second questi on is if non-Western science has been reducib le to the W estern er, that is to say if bo th are no t but portio ns o f their our scientific knowled ge. It has been equally affirm ed that no n-W estern science ended up integrated into the Western scientific traditio n in large o r small measure and at different moments of its evolutio n. Thi s was the case, for examp le, in the Greek and Hellenisti c times w ith M esopo tamian algebra, arithmetic and math emati ca l astrono my;' in th e high Middle Ages with Islamic mathemati cs, astronomy, physi cal optics, natural histo ry and medici ne;) or as a consequence of the Di scovery of Ameri ca with bo tany, zoology and pharmacology amo ng o thers.4 O n the o ther hand, in some other cases like th at o f Ame rindi a, China, or India an abortio n of non-W estern cognitive traditio ns took p lace as a res ult of the imposition of W estern science, w hich didn' t integrate tho se traditi a ns into W estern science mainstream because of that abo rtion. 5 It is true that areas o f knowled ge that we re developed o utside of the west, although th ey have arrived recently, still have no t been integrated into Western science, as in the very well·kn own cases of the Chinese acu· puncture or traditi onal medicine of several regions. 6 O n the o th er hand, in term s of W estern modern science, one of th e main characteri sti cs is th e one that refers to th e geographi cal expansionism in regions o utside Europe, and in ce rtain cases th at have been
2. Bernal, 1992.
3. Sabra, 1996. 4. Fresquet, 1995. 5. Goona tilake, 1964. 6 . Needham, 1976, Estrella, 1996, Valdivia 1996 and Rojas 1996.
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documented in Europe itsell in regions lar Irom main scientilic centers. This is another transculturation which is historically recent but which is the one that has reached the widest span, to the point 01 becoming a world phenomenon at present time. Th e dillusion 01 science that took place during the last 500 years led to a " westernization" 01 the societies where it was implanted. However, it didn't mean that a resulting hornogeneity 01 the simple adoption 01 the scientilic practi ce that was typical in Europe took place. In the European case this was because 01 the social, economic and cultural conditions. Neither gave way to the surrendering 01 traditional knowledge and traditional cu lture. What the most recent historiography on the topic presents us is an interaction 01 modern science and 01 its institutions with loca l cultures, making room lor multiple developments 01 science in other regional civi lizations and in other historical processes. This lact led to the lormation 01 new and diflerent peculiar scientilic practices in each case, the resulting processes 01 local domestication to which science was subjected. In general, at present it is accepted that the institutionalization 01 science in diverse societies has been the result 01 a complex social process and not the simple transler 01 knowledge between ce nters and peripheries. This is a conclusion that will surely enlighten science policies ca rried out by governments of numerous non-Western countries, and al50 tor international public and private organisms whose actions have been guided by the idea that what is needed to modernize is a kind 01 a hypodermic injection to get a quick inoculation 01 loreign science and its institutions in non modern societies. We will return to this point later. Then, we intend, shortly, to identily in the evolution 01 the historiography 01 science sorne 01 the lactors that it used: lirst, to give up the point 01 view that sustained the European-western nature 01 science; second, to supersede in a recent time this vision 01 things and to sustain that every historical period and each locality should be seen as va luable in th emselves; and, third, to extract lrom this new historiography sorne viable strategies to achieve the domicile 01 science in all societies, since by such strategies the existing culturar diversity in the planet takes its place. The lormation and the development 01 science in diflerent localities only recently has begun to occupy the attention 01 historians. The history 01 traditional science didn't grant greater interest to this topi c and it stops its understanding at only simple and general ideas, leaving to the margin 01 the analysis the complexity 01 the situations and its geographical and cultural diversity. In 1938, George Sarton, the inlluential promoter 01 the history 01 science in the lirst hall 01 this century, in
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"The Scientific Basis of the Histary of Science'" established that the object of study of this discipline was constituted by the discovery of objective truth and its diffusion. The geographical expansion of science consequently was consid· ered a result of a diffusion process. That is to say, modern science was transplanted from European scientific centers to diverse regions, and it ended up, after a gradual process, tossing roots to the peripheries. Si· multaneously, following a point of view characteristic of the Enlight· ened tradition, it was sustained that the diffusion of science led to modernity and Ihe westernization of societies in which it was implanted. The ignorance, the superstition and the cultural, (and sometimes material) backwardness characteristic of the traditional societies was overo come thanks to the penetration of science in such societies. The same Sarton in The Ques! of Tru!h affirmed: " science is at the roo! of social change",' because it introduces not only a new way seeing but a new being. Their diffusion was not able to, therefore, constitute but one fac· tor of the progress of nations. The diffusionist point of view was generalized to all type of situa· tions, in such a way that the installation of science inside European countries themselves, far example in Scotland or in Ireland, in the Brit· ish case, had also followed a diffusion process.' In the same way the cases of scientifically backward European countries were understood in the XVIII century as, for example, Russia or Spain. 1o The process of globalization of science that took place from 1492 on with the Discovery of America was conceived, of course, in a similar way. Wide geographical and cultural areas such as, for example, Span· ish America from the XVI century, English America from XVII , French and British India as well as the region of the Pacific from XVIII, and the African regio n to the north of the Sahara from XIX , were far Europe examples that civilization had achieved advances in other regions thanks to the diffusion of science." The idea of Ihe diffusion of science was born with the philosophy of Enlightenment and consolidated in the time of Ihe world empires. On the other hand it formed part of the optimism from the XVIII century of
7. Sarton, 1938. 8. Sarton, 1953.
9. Shapin, 1983 and Jarrel, 1987. 10. 80ss, 1972 and Sarrailh, 1957. 11. Ziadat, 1986; Reingold and Rothenberg, 1987; Macleod and Rehbock, 1988; Polanco, 1990; Petitjean, 1992; lafuente and Sala, 1992; Saldaña, 1993.
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the trust in the power of th e reason, and it was expressed in the controversial notion o f progress. The diffu sionist posi ti on assumed th e superiorit y o f the cult ure and o f the W estern social o rganiza ti o n and, as a result, a missionary pu rpose, th e advance of science, served as encouragement. Altho ugh, it is necessary to mention it, th is noble purpose was also used as a justifi ca ti on o f th e imperial ambitions o f dom inance and exploitation o f countries and th eir natural resources. W ith the independent advance that indeed conceived science as a conse quence o f th e discovery of new worlds fo r th e inves ti gation,12 and of w hat Europe learned of its contact and o f its conflicts with other cultures, IJ we believe that th e fundamental fact remains that science and the European technique were also instruments on the dominance tha t Europe imposed to the rest o f th e planet starting fro m 1492. This left th eir mark on th e ·scientific activity that too k place in th e colonized regio ns and it characteri zed th eir histori cal peri ods. Alexander von Humboldt inaugurated th e genre that some have called " histo ry of colonial science", w ith th e observatio ns th at he made about th e progress of science in th e co untries th at he visited during his Ameri can peri plu s tha t had begun exactly two hundred yea rs ago (1 7991804).14 These observa tions reflect th e diffusionist conception already sharply present in the XVIII century. In th e correspondence of this ce lebrated traveling Pru ssian as well as in his journals15 and scien tific wo rks written on Ameri can topics one can notice the enthusiasm thaC as a good Enlightened man, was always produced at his encounter w ith preColumbian science, Ameri can scientists, or wi th the wo rks of those to who m he could not know. \6 In his Political Essay on the Kingdom 01 the
12. Cohen, 1960. 13. Billerli, 1989. 14. Regarding the existent institu tions in America, Ihose of the city of Mexico like the Botanieal Ca rden, the Aeademy of Arts and the Seminar of Mining deserved Humboldt the followin g concep ts: HAny city of the new eonline nt, wilhou t exce pti ng those of the United Sta tes ones, presents scien tific eSlablishments so big and solids as the capi tal of Mégico. " (Humboldt, 1822; p. 227). He recognized the bring up lo date of Ihe scientifi c knowledge Ihat there were leaehed as the chem· istry of lavoisier, Ihe system of geologic cla ssification of Werner, the orictognosia or minera logy of Ihe school of Freiberg, as well as in the eourses of ma thematics the tea ching of the analysi s and the integral and differential calculation. Of the BOlani cal Carden he highlighled Ihe ir cou rses based on Ihe syslem of Li nneus, Iheir herbarium and the rieh colleetio n of minerals tha l il possessed.
15. Humbold t, 1980. 16. Among the scient isls with w hom he entered in conlact were M utis and Caldas in Bogota ; Unanue and Urquizo in Lima; Tafa ll a in Guayaquil; O lmedo in
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New Spain (1822) he related th e magnilicent impression that scientilic institutio ns that existed in Mexico city ca used him and he made some general judgements o n the state 01 the sciences in America, affirmin g: " There is ce rtainly ve ry remarkable progresses 101 the sciencel in M egico, Havana, Lima, Popayan and Caracas ....Everywhere a big impulse may observed nowadays toward the Enlightenment..." (p. 226). But, fo r a Enlightened liberal like Humboldt, his enthusiasm lor the dillusion that reached science in Spanish America didn' t prevent him Irom also observing that these advances took p lace in an incoherent context (the co lo nial mark) lor w hat he ca lled the progress 01 the civi liza tion. " Th e civil and religious despotism" the Spaniards maintained fo r so long are amo ng th e o bstacles pointed o ut by Humbo ldt (p. 179); a great inequality 01 lortune, of enjoyments and individual prosperity, Ithese placesl ... a part of the nation under the guides and dependen ce 01 the other o ne" (p. 189); the isolation in w hich Spain maintained its co lo nies and th e lack of good social institutio ns lor the development 01 science and th e pro gress 01society (p . 239); and th e lact, unacceptable lor him, that the breed 01 th e whites is the one which reaches the progresses 01 understanding almos t exclusive ly land l ...w hich possesses great wea lth" (p. 239). For Humboldt all this was the logical co nsequence 01 th e true character 01 the co lo nial régime under w hich one lived in Spanish America. Th ese observations 01 Humboldt on th e social conditions of science that he fo und in America, light up the complexity 01 the phenom· enon 01 diffusion, but regrettably they we re disregarded. The proles-sional historians of colo nial science built Ethnocentric models, simplistic
, \
and were ignorant af the social context in which science acts in non-
Western socie ti es. In the co ntempo rary histo rio graphy the topic of science in the peri p hery was developed by George Bassalla using an evolutionary model 01 three phases or stages to explain the scientil ic dillusion. 17 Fo r Basalla th e expansion af Western science toward non western societies initially took place as a result 01 th e scientilic investigatio n ca rried o ut in th e regions by European scientists. From thi s phase co ntinued that 01 colonial science, in which scientific activity that is developed in the recipi-
, laja; Del Río, Cervantes y Constanzó in M exico. Among those Mexi cans that he didn'l know bu l for thei r works are Velazquez de Leon, Leon y Ga ma and Alazte.
Also made mention of sciencti(¡c knowledge that the natives possessed previous lo the Spani sh canquest and he praised them (H umbold t, 1822).
17. Basalla, 1967.
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ent society is earried out by seientil ie "se ttl ers" and it depends o n the institutions and the European traditions. In the third phase the soeiety arrives linally to the establishment 01 an independent seientilie culture. This model has been broadly questioned and eonsidered by several investigators as inadequate to understand the vari ety on ways that the geographieal expansio n 01 seienee and th e contextual complexity adopted'8 Indeed, it has been eriticized that the model ignores the local context in that seienee aets and considers colonial seienee on the margin of important elements like colo ni zation, econo mic expl oitation, ho mogeneity and cultural clash that its native soeieties experi eneed. It has also been pointed ou t that Sassalla's model doesn' t take into ae· count the internal social dynamies that are th e responsible lor the lorms that adopt the social and c ultural organization 01 th e colonial world, and that are diflerent eertainly to those 01 Europeans. Consequently, w ith this model the inlluenee whieh exereises th e eontext and the local culture in the motivatio ns 01 the seientists is devaluated; the establish· ment 01 the objeetives 01 the investigation programs and in the mean s used lor its development; th e lormati on 01 the local communities dedi· eated to seienee and its prolessionalization; among other important
aspects. 19 It was in the last three deeades when the study 01 globalization 01 scienee began to take into aeeount the diversity 01 situation s and their complexities. In th e biblio graphy that today exists on the matter there are studies on geographieal areas that were oeeupied by the old European empires o r the new ones as the U. 5. 20 In th em th e diversity 01 situatio ns are analyzed and has given up the idea 01 a singular model lor the understanding 01 the globalization 01 scienee. As lor th eir methodologieal tendencies we can distinguish grosso modo two types 01 studies. The lirst one has been in eharge 01 colonial scienee and it analyzes th e scientilie aetivity developed in th e non·Euro· pean regions under th e inlluenee 01 European institutions. Th e seeond has ari sen more recently and is interested in "national science" (still w hen ehronologieally it can eorrespond to the scientilie aetivit y earried
18. See the works ga thered in: Rei ngold and Rothenberg, , 987; Macleod and Rehbock, 1988; Petitjean, 1992. 19. Grove, 1990; Krishna, 1992; Saldaña, 1990 and 1993'. 20. On the case of la tin America they are representa tive the studi es that have appeared in Quipu, Latin American ¡oumal of History of Science and Technology, quarterly publi shed in Mexico from 1984. Far other regions see the works mentioned in the bibliography.
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out previously to the rupture 01 the colonial bond with the metropolis), going to a perspective that puts the emphasis on the local context and attributes it an explanatory or causal value. The lirst one sees the periphery science (rom Europe, the second from their own "ecology", Now, we will reler to such conceptualizations.
The colonial science
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The analytical perspective that we have called colonial science directs its attention toward the applied sciences promoted by the metropolis in its colonies or in its influence areas. The topies that have been studied are the lollowing ones: the conlormation 01 imperialistic strategies with participation 01 science; the optimization 01 the economic exploitation 01 the colonies by means 01 the employment 01 science; the metropolitan projects lor the accumulation 01 data and scientilic materials with investigation ends¡2 1or of c1ear economic, political or military purpose;22 the careers of metropolitan scientists in the colonies among othersn The studies carried out inside this perspective have thrown abundant data and interesting results about the scientilic colonialism and their modalities. These have depended on the different economic and political structures, as well as of the cultural and ethnic variants that characterized European empires as Spanish, English and French. In the same way, these studies also point out differences that respond to the particular "architecture" that the scientific system had along with the pattern 01 scientilic expansion 01 each empire, which was dictated by the peculiarities of their political and administrative régime, because 01 the ambition and strength 01 their bourgeoisie, because the necessities 01 their loreign policy and 01 their military, and other more. 24 Finally, the unequal participation 01 these modalities 01 empires has also been invoked in the conformation 01 the modern science corpus." . These studies, in spite 01 their thematic diversity, possess some notes that are common and signilicant Irom 01 historiographic point 01 view.
21.latour, 1987, Polanco, 1990a. 22 . Frost, 1988; Puerto, 1988; González, 1988. 23. lafuente and Mazuecos, 1987; Peset, 1987; Pyenson, 1984, 1985 and
1987. 24. MacLeod, 1987; Numbers, 1987; Puerto, 1968; lafuente, 1992; Melellan,
1992. 25. De Gortari, 1963; Ch. 6; Inkster, 1983; Numbers, 1967; Chartrand, 1969.
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We consider that these notes a re susceptible to be gene ralized to most 01 the historiography 01 the colonial scie nce. We reler to the lact that in these studies a prevale nce 01 docume ntation 01 European sources has existed, as well as a n inte rest to give pursuit to the careers 01 European scientists that went on outside 01 Europe. To say it this way, lor this historiography the argume nt a nd the characte rs 01 the drama that it describes a re European, and the peripheries only contribute to the scenano.
In the historiography 01 colonia l science acco rdin g to our point 01 view, the existence of a statement and of two omissions or important
absences is also perceived. The state ment that we reler to has e mphasized a lunda me ntal question: lor the understanding 01 European scie nce itsell it is indispensable to know the luck that it had in the "Iand 01 . the unlaithlul", as well as the me tropolitan politics in this respect. This stateme nt has allowed the simplilied version 01 other times to be overcome. Also, this new locus has begun indeed, to toss light on e no ugh important aspects 01 European science belore unknown or suspected. They are, among others, the nature 01 the process 01 accumulation 01 data and 01 scientilic mate rials in the calls "calculation centers";" their lorm oloperation throu gh inte rnatio nal networks whose knots are in the metropolitan cente rs;27 the decisive pape r that has resu lted in popularization, the teaching and the normalization 01 science through the cano nical texts lor the consolidation 01 European science inside and outside Europe;28 the importa nce that scientific careers developed Outre·Mer had lor the inte rnationalization 01 scie nce;" e tc. In synthesis, the emergence 01 this way 01 studying colonial or periphe ra l scie nce has meant the recognition 01 the inadequaey 01 a sellce ntered locus like the traditional one that idealized the geographical expansion 01 science, and the science itsel!, when conside ring the m outside 01 the social and international means where they were carried ou t. ]0
26.latour, 1987. 27 . lafuente, 1992.
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28 . Grove, 198 1; G rove 198 7. 29. Pyenson, 1987. 30. Nathan Rei ngold and Marc Rothenberg has interpreted this process as an European cultural hegemony (to th e margin to a certai n extent of the polítical hegemony and the economic exploitation). The se authors propase as heuri stic sol ution considering science as a polycentric and part of a internationa l process. (Reingold and Rothenberg, 1987: Introducti on).
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Regarding the omissions Ihat we find in the historiography of colonial science, Ihe first one is of a melhodological character. It is the absence of the social local context as explanatory element of the peripheral scientific activity. Notice from now on the difficulty that it outlines for us by the use of Ihe term "peripheral science", because appealing to the local context would demand that it is considered the scientific activity carried out in Beijing, Baghdad or Rio de Janeiro, lor example, as scientific in it's' own right and not lor their relationship to a "center" which is outlying. In other terms, this historiography doesn't establish a nexus or causal bond between the scientific activity and the social context in which it takes place_ As a- consequence, the scientilic aspect 01 the activities carried out by Ihe scientists Ihat reside in Ihe periphery has been defined by Ihe "articulations 01 these and 01 their institutions wilh the metropolitan scientilic centers, such as organic linking, publications, prizes, etc. The second omission is 01 a highly ideological nature. We reler to the Nlorgetlulness" 01 which has been part the historiography 01 colonial science as what constitutes the fundamental lact 01 Ihe colonialism: i. e. the metropolitan exploitation. It is, neverlheless, a reality impossible to evade lor the historian since he settled down in the scientific and technical medium, like in other, a relationship 01 Ihe dominance of Ihe metropolis over the colonies. This relationship put the colonies in the position 01 being only observational and experimentation lields, or lor obtaining scientific materials, and to Ihe metropolis, in an asymmetric relationship, in a center 01 accumulation 01 inlormation, 01 calculation, scientilic theorizing and systematizing 01 data. In the historiography this omission has led to Irankly ideological notions as that 01 a missionary disinterest 01 Europe in Ihe propagation 01 science. Al! lorm 01 political, economic or cultural relationship Ihat imply subordination or dependence 01 a nation or society regarding anolher, necessarily makes science acquire a lunction 01 dominance Irom the perspective 01 Ihe rulers. As lor those dominated, the science can end up playing a liberating role when it responds to local motivations. The Colonial science was, therelore, determined by the authoritarian imposition 01 the metropolitan interests in the colonies. The preeminence of these interests pointed out limits and essential modalities such as, lor example, Ihe asymmetry among the center and the periphery, Ihe practicality of the goal s or Nlocalism", Ihe discipular character 01 the scientific local practice, and even, the aulhoritarian imposition 01 concepts and Iheories, and a negative valuation 01 Ihe autochlhonous
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scientific culture. The National science in the non-western societies should have taken steps opened up dragging the shackle that colonial dependence imposes on them with leaning on in the patrio tic purposes of scientists. Neither the "progress of knowledge", nor the "advance of civilization", nor any other of the formulas that have been coined to conceptualize the so called " missionary" science, can hide the fact of metropolitan exploitation as the motive of colonial scientific activities. Now then, both omissions are serious because they have biased the analysis and limited the historian's perspective and that of the planners of the scientific development. Indeed, the analytical and explanatory capacity of history becomes poor when it loses sight that scientific activity carried out in colonies took place in a defined social, cu ltural and geographical context, under the influence of diverse instances certainly, but local ones being decisive. And when it is ignored that the colonial or dependent sdence was framed by the metropolitan authoritarianism and for his policies of economic spoilage, then the historical analysis becomes false and apologetic for a supposed disinterested and edifying action of the metropolis.
The national science The formulation of the analytical perspective that studies national science is more recent than the one that is interested in colonial science. It is the result of its conceptual evolution that followed the historiography of science during the last decades" And it is, also, a consequence 01 the expansion that did, in last decade, the historical studies on science in old colonial regions like Australia, India, Islamic countries, Latin America and the Pacific Rim where important investigations are taking place on the science that was developed there. In spite of it, the topic of the national science is still in a stage that we can describe as initial Irom the historiographic point of view. Although it is also certain that at the present time it is already has a certain number of significant empirical studies, which justifies our intent of making a first reflection on them. The formation of science and of the national scientific community although is a typical prablem 01 the countries that arase from an old colonial relationship, it is not exclusive of them. As a matter of lact it al"so concerns the modernization 01 countries and the historical fact of
31. Saldaña, 1989b.
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globalization of modern science. Traditional countries like lapan, although non·subjected to colonial bonds, are also now object of the attention of historians of Ihe national science. 12 Plus still, we think Ihat science of other regions like central Europe and Scandinavia, and Ihat of the prov· inces of the European states monopolists themselves of the knowledge in their capital cities, is susceptible to being analyzed from a nationalistic perspective." It is surprising that it is not venturous to advance that studies that today are being generated in old peripheries on Iheir sci· ence will illuminate a historical process that affected all the nations equally. Between science and nation or, as we have said before, between science and Iheir context there are resulting nexuses that are significant for the historian. When taking them into account, the notion of-"scientific heritage" that makes relative the meaning that has Ihe local dimension is abandoned, to another, that of national science which rescues Ihe diversity of relationships when science and scientists settled ·down with their environments and received local culture. In referen~e to the old colonial regions, science and Ihe national scientific community are matters intimately related wilh the gestation and formation of their own modern national state. On occasion, like in the cases of Colombia and Mexico, for example, the scientific commu· nity and an effective nationalist scientific practice have preceded, and like their pr~cedent, to the independent state." In other cases, as Ihose of Argentina, India or lapan, the formation of a national science has been the task of the new state (or of the state renovated as in the ex· ample of Ihe restoration Meiji in lapan)." This situation forces us, Iherefore, to distinguish two moments in the evolution of scientific nationalism. The first of them predates colonial emancipation and the constitution of the national state, and has
32. Sacofuka, 1990. 33. Studies of this nature have been carried out although they have been directed mainly to technology. The definitive distinction between science and teen. nology is doubtfu/ and what is it more it stops through time. See, for example, the studies begun on the national history by the Rumanian magazine Noes;s starting (rom 1973 and book of C. Giurescu, Contributions to rhe history of Roman;an science and Technique {rom the 15th to the early 19th century, Bucharest, Historical Bibliotheca Romaniae, 1974; other examples: Technology & Industry. To Nordic Heritage, J. Hult and B. Nystrom (eds.), Science History Publicadons, 1992¡ the works gathered in Metropolis and province, Op. cit.; La física Pavía nell'800 e'900. Scritti di Giuseppe Belli, G. Bruni (ed.), Universita degli Studi di Pavia, 1988.
a
34. Luque, 1988; Saldaña, 1996; Saladino, 1988; Grove, 1990; Campos, 1991. 35 . Babini, 1954; kumar, 1997; Satofuka, 1990.
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individually considered scientist's motivated liberal aspirations. The seco ond is the one that is developed once the national state exits and it is characterized by its republicanism (res publica). In that, the national science' takes a step through the interstices 01 ,the colonial society to complete a patriotic mission; in this, the state and the national society incorporate science like a matter 01 public interest. Above all it is ·necessary to recapture here what I called ideological and methodological omissions belore. Indeed, their repair has come to constitute the same nucleus which we have called history 01 national science. When being extracted the consequences that are imposed (and that .they are properly documented) 01 the inclusion 01 the colonialism and 01 the local 'context in the history 01 science 01 the excolonial socio eties, an unexpected perspective opened up lor the historians and I will sustain that lor,science policy also. Their emergence came lo enrich the historical analysis when important qaestions are even still needy 01 ulterior investigations. In spite 01 !hat, concepts and an appropriate vocabu· lary have already been lorged to the
CuLTURAL DIVEllSITY
Our Creative Diversity (1996)," containing a repor! of the World Com-
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mission on Culture and Development. The president of that ~ommission Mr. Javier Pérez de Cuellar, Ihe former General Secretary of Ihe United Nations and President of the Commission, observed that "lhe initiatives for development had failed with frequen~y ~ause 'in many of Ihe development proje~ts the importan~e of the human fa~tor was underestimated, the ~omplex fabri~ of relationship and beliefs, values and motives is the heart of a ~ulture". (p. 11) This statemen! makes us rethink Ihe very process of development, and has ~orresponded !o the previously mentioned UNESCO ~ommission whim was ~reated for that task:" The development -as affirmed in another pla~e in the report- ~an no longer be ~on~eived as a singular path, uniform and linear, because Ihat would eliminate the inevitable diversity and ~ultural experimentation and would gravely limit Ihe ~reative ~pa~ity of humanity wilh its valuable path and unpredi~table future." This affirmation by the ~ommission, in itself, ~on verts Ihe subje~t of ~ultural diversity into a true means to amieve Ihe strategies required for ~onstru~tion of greater opportunities in Ihe future for all humanity. ,In the fa~e of Ihe ~hange in fo~us that su~h a declaration suggests, a ~hange in ,persp&tive should al so take pla~e and as a ~onsequen~e we should stop assigning a ' "purely instrumental role to ~ulture in order to attribute it, instead, a ~onstru~tive, ~onstitutive, and ~reative role." This implies beginning Ihe ~on~eption of development in a different way. Parti~ularly, by abandoning some of the mos! influential e~onomic and political Iheories at Ihe end of this century, which as far as science and technology are concerned, considers Ihem only as mer· chandise to be bought and sold. As we have seen, contemporary history of science oflers us a renewed vision of what has been the scientific experience of humanity. Beginning wilh an interpretation that has a solid conceptual and factual basis and is already far from Ethnocentric ideas and linear development of science, an existing cultural diversity in scientific material is brought into evidence. It is, then, from this point of view Iha! conceivable fler· spectives and alternatives result for Ihe development of science, as much Western as non-Western. I hope that it will beco me evident to everyone that although Ihe initial step has been taken by Ihe historiography of science, the restoration of cultural diversity as an essential par! of scientific practice and its development has not yet taken place. Let me illustrate my point
37. Pérez, 1996.
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Some years ago, in an interview I had with Prolessor René Taton at his apartment on Rue Gay Lussae, in Paris, he told me that in the sixties, during the time in whieh he was preparing lor !he publication 01 his Histoire Genera/e de Sciences, he could not find a person to write some ehapters on the development 01 scienee outside 01 Europe in regions sueh as Latin America, beeause 01 the laek 01 researehers working on that subjeet. As a result, it was his own wife who collected data about Spanish America and Portuguese Brazil, wi!h the intention 01 filling those gaps. Other regions 01 the planet sueh as Alrica and Australia, lor ex· ample, were not able to be represented in that work lor that same reason. In any case, I must say that Prolessor Taton was, lrom this and other points 01 view a real pioneer, sinee he regularly ineluded inlormation on !he seientifie lile developed in o!her regions and thanks to tha!, many 01 us were able to beco me eonscious 01 the existenee of other non-western scientific traditions. Approximately twenty years later The Cambridge lIIuslrated History of World's Science by Colin Ronan," was published. In this work, sueh themes as the origins 01 seience ineluding some páges dedicated to Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Preeolumbian seienee; ancient Greek, Chinese, Indian and Arabian scienee were diseussed. Of these, he affirms !hat in spite of !heir original eontributions prior to the Renaissanee, at not having had a scientifie revolution, they never developed into "fullyfledged scienee". By the same token, in the case of India for example, he sustains that in the past 200 years scienee has had a "Western flavour", and that is the reason !hat only six lines are dedicated to what !he author calls "some important eontributions to seienee" made in India in the XX eentury (p. 196). In the case of Islam, beeause of the conneetion between scienee and religion, he simply alfirms !hat "the toreh of seienee had to be earried on by o!hers" (p. 240); and in China without overlooking that "many of its ideas and methods are being used vigorously", he states "still, the breakthrough into the era of powerful modern seienee oeeurred in Europe not in the East" (p. 186). It is elear that in the world history of scienee what was laeking for it to really be so is, exactly, world scientifie experienee, deeper than whaJ the written history 01 the eonqueror might elaim. Twenty years later, in 1996, Science in the Twentieth Century19 was published. Edited by ¡ohn Krige and Dominique Pestre, a work in which
38. Ronan, 1983. 39. Krige and Pestre, 1996.
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lhere is achapter dedicated to " Regional and Nationallnstitutions" . The case studies are of the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, the United States, the European Community¡ Japan, India and latin America. Note that now even a certain European diversity has been included and NonEuropean regions are studied as well. Still, treatrnent of many other regions that are important to know about is lacking. Also in 1996, the book MathematicaJ Europe. History, Myth, Iden- . tity"\' edited by Goldstein, Gray and Ritter was published. Here, lhe works presented at the European Mathematical Society Congress of 1992 are collected. Before telling tlie content of this book, I would like to point out that just as was lhe case old in cinema, we go from passing through large panoramas to more and more detailed subjects in which the ob• jects and characters occupy a larger scope) So, we see that in this book the autnors reject the idealized vision of science that history of science produced because it is "fallacious from several points of view", and they point out lhat "it ignores lhe crucial and autonomous.contributions from civilizations which have arisen outside the European continent"; at the same time lhat they sustain "mathematicianS'from lhese societies are presented as mere passive receivers and transmitters ..--even corrupt· ers- of a European-originated knowledge". Bu!, equally grave, it is pointed out that lhis way of seeing history of science "impoverished European mathematies themselves". And, they add,
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Descartes and his contemporaries profited form a rich heritage which is not simply reducible to sources from classica! Antiquity. Important and complex relati(lnships bound mathematics to contemporary economic life, even before the . sophisticated dynami€ simulation$, ecor1bmetrics, and medica! statistics of today; commerce, architecture, demogr¡¡phies and fortifications were among the mariy fields which justified or favored the development of mathematics in the period prior to the·eighteenth century (p. 7) . • In addition, in the book the origins of European mathematies are studied in the Greek, Indian, Arabian, Jewish and Europe' s own traditions. In another part of the book the happenings are analyzed at the
"frontiers" of European mathematics in China,' Japan, modern Greece, Iberoamerica and Central Europe. At the same time, the diversity of
40. Goldstein, Gray and Ritter, t 996.
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schools 01 mathematical thought, institutions, etc. a re studied, which inside Europe itsell have existed in dillerent countries and eras, by means 01 which the dissolution 01 the homogenous and immobile im· age 01 science and its institutions is targeted. As one can see, this is a book that, jointly with material making up the literature on nationa! and local science being produced in various regions, shows us merely the tip 01 the iceberg whose real volume, although we may imagine, we do not know. Belore the impossibility 01 relerring to the entirety 01 this movement to study local science, I will brielly mention that in July 01 2001 the XXlst International Congress 01 History 01 Science will take place, and the general theme will be "Science and Cultural Diversity". At this conlerence we hope to have the opportunity to see in more detail and with a wider scope, what has been the scientilic experience 01 humanity. Like what is happening in other lields, at this turn 01 the century we are witnessing a review 01 our ideas about the nature 01 science. We are doing that by means 01 inc~rporating social and historical processes that we know have acted on their evolution. From a more or less sta tic vision 01 science in place lor too long, we are moving toward another vision 01 a dynamic nature. That is one step lorward which will have great importance since it is a call to modily our current conceptions and altitudes in subjects such as general education and the teaching 01 the sciences in particular; the scientilic policy 01 the state and private enterprise; public communication 01 science; the relationship 01 science to society, culture and history; the self-value 01 societies; and programs lor cultural, economic, and social development. In consequence, it seems that two tasks are a priority in the immediate luture. The lirst, is to develop in a prelerably international Irame like UNESCO, advanced investigations on 'the history 01 national science in all countries, as well as international science that has been developed in this century, so that such histories are capable of giving us the diversilied image needed. This may contribute to the writing of a true world history 01 science. The second, with the valuable e mpirical inlormation that historical and social studies 01 local science provide us, is to luel our national and international projects lor development with the purpose 01 giving ourselves the realism that has normally been lacking at the point 01 creating prospects lor the luture that we aspire to and in the delinition 01 that luture. It is also true that in order to translorm the present situations we must learn about them and learn about them in their evolutionary and interactive movement.
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Having wanted to present to you the history and perspectives 01 western and non-western scie nce, I rnust linally recognize that like a painte r in the lirst stage 01 a painting, I have barely outlined the prolile that will late r have precise lorms and color. So, this lorces me to leave the canvas unlinished and the complete development 01 the landscape lor another occasion.
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