Good, Gregory A. (Author)
Historia Scientiarum: International Journal of the History of Science Society of Japan
Volume: 28
Issue: 3
Pages: 187-200
The 19th century witnessed the creation of modern scientific disciplines such as chemistry, physics, and geology. The demarcation of these disciplines also highlighted areas of science that did not fall neatly into a single discipline, but which were susceptible to the analytical tools of several better defined sciences. One "border science" that witnessed significant development alongside̶and in between̶physics, geology, chemistry, and meteorology was geophysics̶the application of the laws and techniques of these other sciences to studies of the Earth. Three main kinds of geophenomena attracted a large share of the attention: Earth's magnetism, earthquakes, and the relation of solar radiation to atmospheric movement and to electromagnetic effects in Earth's atmosphere and elsewhere. This story is best developed in the European and American contexts, but this article emphasizes that geophysical sciences were also pursued successfully in Japan. The arrival of geophysics on the scene at just the time that Japan launched the modernization associated with Meiji restoration meant that this science found especially fertile ground there for institutional development and for discovery. Between about 1880 and 1920 Japan went from having just a few "magneticians," seismologists, and atmospheric physicists to have a well-developed community with a rich record of activity.
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