This paper examines how Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), a mathematician and philosopher from Florence, proved the solar rotation. By analyzing his works Letters on the Sunspots and Discourse on Bodies in Water, this paper argues that Galileo could reach his conclusion by introducing substantial evidence from natural philosophy as well as from the mixed mathematical sciences. This contradicts previous researches that suggest that Galileo supported his argument on solar rotation only through observations of sunspots and mathematical reasoning based on them. The natural philosophical elements Galileo introduced were the analogy between the Earth and the Sun that he drew using the then popular idea of fluid heaven, his idea of a fluid-like solar “atmosphere” that included sunspots, and his theory of matter. In making the argument for solar rotation, Galileo blurred the strict disciplinary boundary that had existed between mixed mathematics and natural philosophy. Galileo's solar rotation was the product of his hybrid practice, by which he crisscrossed the boundaries between the two disciplines, combining elements of mixed mathematics with those of natural philosophy.

To reexamine the authenticity of astronomical records in Samguk sagi, this paper analyzes two types of records in particular formats: 1) the records displaying dates by sexagesimal signs, and 2) the records informing the positions of astronomical phenomena regarding the constellations. My analysis shows that all records with sexagesimal date signs have corresponding records in Chinese historical books. This implies that the sexagesimal date signs were added to the original records, when Samguk sagi was compiled in 1145, using the information available in corresponding Chinese records. All records informing the positions of astronomical phenomena regarding the constellations, before the late 7th century of unification, except for two cases, have Chinese corresponding records. This implies that the constellations were also added, when Samguk sagi was edited, to the original records by adopting those positional information specified in the corresponding Chinese records.

In 1721, the Qing dynasty began to send eclipse documents to Joseon, which influenced the astronomy of Joseon Gwansanggam. The Qing documents contained predictions of solar and lunar eclipses in Seoul. This papers argues that the Qing eclipse documents became a new criterion for evaluating the accuracy of the eclipse calculations carried out by Joseon astronomers, and such changes affected the overall reform and improvement of their solar and lunar eclipse calculation skills. They had to calculate not only calendars but also solar and lunar eclipses based on documents provided by the Qing dynasty. This imperative, this article suggests, urged the Joseon government to dispatch official astronomers to Beijing every year from 1741. Learning how to calculate solar and lunar eclipses from Qing astronomers became the most urgent goal for Joseon astronomers during the 1740s and 1750s. By the early 1750s, they were able to produce the same results as the Qing documents.

Yi Ik suggested a new theory of portents based on the idea of “number of qi” (gisu 氣數) to preclude one-to-one correspondence. He insisted that portents did not occur in response to specific events, but show only the possibility of encountering bad luck. Yi Ik argued that humans can avoid misfortune and reduce the damage of portents by their own efforts at self-cultivation. Yi Ik also created a new classification method of dividing portents into those of the heaven and of the earth. Astronomical portents (portents of the heaven) could be seen from all over the world. In contrast, terrestrial and atmospheric portents (portents of the earth) could be observed only from a certain place. This reconstruction of portents implied that more people assume political and moral responsibilities for the portents. Yi Ik argued that not only kings or ministers, but also local gentlemen were responsible for the portents that occurred in their own localities. Yi Ik suggested that local gentlemen must take responsibilities for portents of the earth with benevolence. With his theory of portents, Yi Ik urged people to take responsibility for portents and to live virtuous lives.

This paper discusses the practicalities of late Joseon “practical studies (實學),” focusing on the works of several scholars who produced new knowledge about papermaking in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: Hong Daeyong(1731-1783), Bak Jiwon(1737-1805), Bak Jega(1750-1815), Yi Huigyeong(1745-1805), and Seo Yugu(1764-1845). These scholars showed deep interest in this mundane technique, as could be seen through their communication with each other. While their works touching on techniques of producing things have been largely characterized as “empirical,” “practical,” and “proven,” this paper argues that their method to pursue “practical studies” and their meaning of practicalities (實) were quite different from what we can expect from the terms “seeing and hearing (見聞),” and “proving by experience (徵驗).” Their main way of “seeing and hearing” was through texts that helped them know the right way of the ideal sage rule, and their “proving” was to confirm their informed faith in the right ways proven in previous texts. The practicalities that they obtained and aimed were thus not through the actual observations of technical realities in Joseon papermaking, but mostly through their intellectual politics.

This paper examines the continuity between the weapons development management system in the 1970s and the national research and development (R&D) programs in the 1980s in South Korea. In the 1970s, the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) carried out a series of weapons development programs, adopting standardized procedures for planning, managing, and evaluating projects from the United States Department of Defense. After the establishment of the Fifth Republic of Korea, former weapons developers launched the “Special R&D Program (Teukjeong yeon-gugaebal saeop),” modeled on the weapons development system of the ADD, and the program was followed by the national R&D programs of other ministries. By examining the process by which the Special R&D Program was established, this paper will argue that the current planning, management, and evaluation system of national R&D programs inherits the weapons development management system of the ADD.

This paper explores the introduction of demography by the Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at Keijō Imperial University 京城帝國大學. Assistant Professor Mizushima Haruo 水島治夫 led the introduction of demography into colonial Korea in the 1930s, while carrying out intensive interactions with his colleagues in the field of eugenics. Focusing particularly on the influences of eugenics on Mizushima's demographic studies, this paper examines how demography was accepted by Japanese doctors who emphasized the practicality of medical research. Eugenics helped raise demography into a crucial field for the Japanese Empire by allowing it to calculate the vitality of the Japanese race 日本人の生命力 vis-a-vis other races. By analyzing how eugenics constructed the social meanings of demography, this paper will illuminate the process through which eugenics expanded its influence on medicine.

The Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) was established in 1977 to promote universities and encourage basic research. This article focuses on the projects of KOSEF and the discourse surrounding the concept of “basic research.” Observing the changing concept of “basic research” and the role of universities in the 1970s and 1980s will allow one to understand the perspective of the Korean government, especially the Ministry of Science and Technology(MOST). This paper will show that the Korean government's plan to integrate higher education institutions in the process of national development was inextricably linked to its notion of “basic research.” Through this process, South Korean universities were able to play significant roles as research institutes after the 1990s. During the 1980s, the concept of “basic research” was expanded to include areas of applied science and engineering, and the Korean government wanted the universities to take part in national development by conducting research in these areas. The “mission-oriented basic research project” became the largest project within KOSEF after the mid-1980s in order to actively engage universities in those areas of research.

The Basic Science Research Promotion Act, enacted in 1989, is evaluated as the first legal device used to support basic science research in Korea. Before the law was enacted, basic scientists and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) had to go through a period of mediation over the definitions of basic science and the targets of support. This paper seeks to reveal the meaning and dynamics contained by this law by tracing the demands of the basic scientists and the developments of related policies, and analyzing the actual process of enacting the bill. I would like to make the following arguments: First, the 1987 democratization movement was behind MOST's change of its policy to establish the Basic Science Research Institute to build a basic science support research center. Second, the enactment of the Basic Science Research Promotion Act is a result of more reflection on the MOST's plan, which expanded the scope of basic research and emphasized its connection with industrial developments. Third, the rhetoric of basic scientists who set the ultimate goal of basic science as industrial technology development forced themselves to follow MOST's intentions in the legislation process.