Wen-yuan Qian
American professor of history
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wen-yuan Qian (Chinese: 錢文源; 14 April 1936 – 21 August 2003) was an American professor of history who taught at Blackburn College and MacMurray College.
Wen-yuan Qian | |
|---|---|
錢文源 | |
| Born | April 14, 1936 |
| Died | August 21, 2003 (aged 67) |
| Citizenship | American |
| Education | University of Michigan (PhD) |
| Alma mater | Peking University |
| Occupations | Historian of science; sinologist |
| Employer(s) | Zhejiang University; Blackburn College; MacMurray College |
| Known for | The Great Inertia: Scientific Stagnation in Traditional China |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Axiomaticism in Science Development. (1988) |
Early life and education
Qian was born in Shanghai. He studied physics at Peking University, graduating in 1959.[1]
Career
Qian taught physics at Zhejiang University from 1959 to 1980.[1] During the Cultural Revolution, he was branded an "ideological counter-revolutionary."[2] In 1980, the government of the People's Republic of China sent Qian to the United States to continue his studies while his wife and daughter remained in China.[3] In 1983, he graduated from Northwestern University with a Master of Arts in history.[3] Qian was funded by the W. Clement Stone Foundation to translate several works from Chinese to English.[1]
In 1985, Qian published his most known work, The Great Inertia: Scientific Stagnation in Traditional China.[4] The work was framed as a challenge to Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China,[2] and has been analyzed in relation to it.[5][6][7] He believed that political conditions, particularly the imperial examination system, stymied the development of modern science in dynastic China.[8] Qian saw the neglect of formal logic and rigorous proof as a central cause in the failure to develop modern science.[9]: 108, 217 At the time, Qian's thesis was considered controversial among sinologists.[10] Victor H. Mair called The Great Inertia an "arching cry of a thoughtful critic from within the Chinese tradition addressed to the enthusiastic advocate from without."[10]
In 1988, Qian graduated from the University of Michigan with a doctorate in history and began teaching history at Blackburn College the same year. From 1992 to 2002, he taught history at MacMurray College.[1] Qian died in 2003 in Jacksonville, Illinois.[1]
Works
- Qian, Wen-yuan (1988). Axiomaticism in Science Development (PhD thesis). hdl:2027.42/161851. OCLC 21402755.
- Qian, Wen-yuan (June 1985). "Science Development: Sino-Western Comparative Insights". Science Communication. 6 (4): 377–405. doi:10.1177/107554708500600404. hdl:2027.42/68479. ISSN 0164-0259. OCLC 4651285863.
- Qian, Wen-yuan (1985). The Great Inertia: Scientific Stagnation in Traditional China. Croom Helm. ISBN 978-0-7099-2104-2. LCCN 84014217. OCLC 10914880. OL 2851872M.
- Qian, Wen-yuan (1982-10-01). "The Great Inertia: An Introduction to a Causal Inquiry into Traditional China's Scientific Stagnation". Comparative Civilizations Review. 9 (9). ISSN 0733-4540. OCLC 8091893947.