Categories
Notes & Letters

The 6th Conference on the History of Chinese Meteorological Science and Technology

Nanjing City, China, 20-23 October 2023

By Zhenghong Chen, ICHM Vice-President and China Regional Representative

The 6th Conference on the History of Chinese Meteorological Science and Technology was successfully held in Nanjing City, China in October 2023. This conference was organized by Professor Zhenghong Chen, Vice-President of ICHM and Regional Representative of China, and co-hosted by the China Meteorological Administration Training Centre (CMATC), the Committee for the History of China Meteorological Science and Technology, and Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST). Under the background of addressing global climate change, the theme of the conference was “Research on Meteorological History and Communication of Meteorological Culture.” The conference promoted the dissemination of the history of meteorological technology and culture in Chinese universities and across diverse disciplines.

Group photo of conference participants

Professor Li Beiqun, President of NUIST, Professor Sun Xiaochun, President of the Chinese Society for the History of Science and Technology, Professor Xu Xiaofeng, Former Deputy Administrator of China Meteorological Administration, and President of the China Meteorological Service Association, Professor Yu Yubin, President of the CMATC, and Professor Zhenghong Chen, as Vice-President and China Regional Representative of ICHM, opened the conference.

Categories
Opportunities Publications

Call for Papers: ‘Connecting Oceanic Asia’

For a Special Issue of our journal History of Meteorology edited by Dr. Xiao Liu and Dr Zhenwu Qiu


We’re looking for contributors for an exciting special issue of our journal History of Meteorology titled, “Connecting Oceanic Asia: Production and Application of Meteorological Knowledge”. We are after exciting original papers which focus on any aspect of how modern meteorological knowledge was produced under the influence of regional interactions in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.

The collection is being edited by HoM Editorial Collective member, Dr Xiao (Shawn) Liu (Tsinghua University) and his colleague Dr Zhenwu Qiu. Papers can be up to 10,000 words, including citations, see the full style guide and information for more. All papers must be in English, however, we can provide extra copy-editing support for any authors for whom English is a second language. Abstract should be submitted by 10th December and we would expect the selected contributors to provide their draft paper by 15th March 2024 (however, there is some flexibility on this timeline).

We already have several contributors lined up for the special issue, but are seeking another 2 – 3 authors to come on board as contributors. If you are interested in contributing to this special issue or have any questions please reach out to the editors directly. To propose a contribution please send an abstract (no more than 300 words) and a brief C.V. to the below email addresses.

Contact Information:

Dr. Xiao (Shawn) LIU (xliu128@163.com)

Dr. Zhenwu QIU (qiuzhenwu1994@gmail.com).

Abstract Submission Deadline: 10th December, 2023 (The selected contributors would be expected to provide their draft paper by 15th March 2024)

Please do share this announcement with any relevant colleagues and networks.

Categories
Conference

Asian Extremes: Climate, Meteorology and Disaster in History

Conference report by Fiona Williamson

 

This conference (17 -18 May 2018) was organised by the Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore (NUS); with support from International Commission on the History of Meteorology (ICHM), and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

The overarching aim of this conference was to explore the weather in the history of anthropogenic Asia. Asia was critical to the development of global meteorological science: understanding extremes such as typhoons were essential to trade, economy and society. Despite the centrality of extreme weather to urban Asia historically (and in the present day) however, this subject has remained relatively under researched. Climate and weather history are established, yet developing fields, although arguably, studies in this field have disproportionately favoured Northern Europe and the US, in large part because of the greater availability and accessibility of records. There are still many knowledge gaps for Asia, partly because of the paucity of records in comparison to Europe or because many archives have either been restricted or have only relatively recently been opened. This conference therefore aimed to fill a knowledge gap; connect with historiographical trends that view scientific history as a globally linked enterprise and, bring scholars working in the field together in discussion. It also explored interdisciplinary work on the subject, with papers from historians, anthropologists and scientists.