Article ID: CBB038343049

The Plurality of Reception: Latitude and Longitude in Early Modern China, 1700–1900 (2022)

unapi

Drawing on the social history of technology and the technological systems approach, this essay reconceptualizes latitude-longitude coordinates as part of an integrated sociocultural system. The latitude-longitude coordinate system was a technological innovation socially and culturally embedded in Europe. When the Jesuits brought this technology to early modern China, its reception, the author argues, was selective and did not follow a uniform pattern. Using maps and other materials, the essay chronicles the uneven reception of latitude-longitude coordinates across different strata of early modern China: various actors had their own reasons, from political to budgetary, to accept certain components of this technology while ignoring or even transforming other parts. Through the case of latitude-longitude coordinates, the essay reveals the complexity of technology transmission. Wider social milieus and specific agencies determine the many and various criteria for inclusion and exclusion.

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Authors & Contributors
Grijs, Richard de
Arnoux, Mathieu
Ashley, Raymond Edward
Barrett, Katy
Betts, Jonathan
Boistel, Guy
Journals
Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
British Journal for the History of Science
Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences
Journal for Maritime Research: Britian, the Sea and Global History
Journal of Literature and Science
Publishers
University of South Carolina
Duke University
Anthem Press
Liverpool University Press
Presses Universitaires de Rennes
Springer
Concepts
Longitude and latitude
Navigation
Sea travel
Maps; atlases
Astronomy
Instruments, navigational
People
Harrison, John
Arbuthnot, John
William Nicolas Dawes (British Marines Officer)
Euler, Leonhard
Frézier, Amédée François
Herschel, John Frederick William
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
20th century, early
17th century
21st century
Medieval
Places
Great Britain
China
Paris (France)
India
Europe
France
Institutions
Great Britain. Board of Longitude
American Philosophical Society
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
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