| This study is primarily concerned with the transplanting of Western science in China. In an attempt to treat a specific discipline in historical and social context, it examines the institutional and intellectual development of geological sciences in Republican China. The main reason for pursuing this particular subject is that geology was one of the most developed science in this period. The Geological Survey of China, inaugurated in 1912 and formally founded in 1916, was the earliest and best established Western-oriented scientific research institute in China. Its studies inspired the latter development of the profession; its pioneering efforts promoted the formation of other geological organizations.;The aim of this work is to describe and explain the foundation and development of geological sciences in the broad perspective of scientific modernization of China. It covers the related topics of geological research and education, terminology and translation, professional societies, organization and financing, foreign influence and the mining industry. It consists of three main sections. In the first is an introduction setting out the guiding concepts, problems, and framework. Section two describes the geologists, institutions, and research organizations of this period. The final section explores the substance of geological research, which focuses on the three main topics of economic, historical and dynamic geology. |
