A Study On Student's Textbook Of Electricity Of Late Qing Dynasty

The Student's Textbook of Electricity, which was translated into Chinese in the late Qing Period, was the first systemic book intending to introduce the history and actuality of western electromagnetism. This book took an important part in the Chinese modern history of Physics and Science communication. The Chinese version was cooperatively translated by a famous churchman Fu Lanya and a well-known Chinese scholar and engineer Xu Jianyin, printed in 1879. And the original edition was first published in UK in 1867. Its writer was Henry Michin Noad(1815～1877), a physicist, chemist and electrician of UK in 19 century.Based on comparative history of science and history of communication of science and technology, the thesis will make a full-scale discussion on both Chinese version and its English edition, through the arrangement of structure and content, the comparison and analysis of English and Chinese edition, as well as comparison between this book and other translated scientific books of the same field in the near period.Firstly, the thesis will introduce the background of that age and the general situation of the writers and translators of the book.Secondly, based on the arrangement of the structure and content, it will give some detailed introduction of the various knowledge on electrostatics, electrochemistry, electromagnetism and thermo-electricity, etc. The characteristic of technology mainly about wire-telegraph will be referred, too.Thirdly, it will sum up the translation of professional terms, analyzing and evaluating the translation method and level through the translation of terms, concepts, theories, important inventions and applied techniques, combined with the translating rules of terms and concepts in late Qing Dynasty.Finally, the thesis will make a comparison between this book and other translated scientific books of the same field in the near period to find some creative fruits and directive effect for its latter works.Besides, based on some remarks on this book by some famous people in that period, illuminate the positive effect on the history of science and technology, especially the history of electromagnetism of late Qing Dynasty.