Preliminary Study On Discipline Of Geology At Northwest University(1902-1949)

Northwest University(NWU)began to offer geology related courses from its foundation that can be traced back to Shaanxi Imperial College and the Rapid Development Department of Peking Imperial College in 1902.Along with merging of institutions such as National Peking University,National Peking Normal University and National Beiyang Engineering College to form National Xi'an Provisional University in 1937,which was later renamed as National Northwest Associated University in 1938,the strong integration of educational resources embarked superior conditions for founding the discipline of geology(DIGEO)at NWU.When the university gained its name as Northwest National University in 1939,it set up the geology section,officially founding its DIGEO.Since the geology section was upgraded to department in 1947,the DIGEO at NWU started its independent development rooting in Department of Geology.Within the decade prior to the founding of the People's Republic of China(PRC),the DIGEO at NWU speedily grew from a section to a department,with giant improvements in its system of subjects and qualities of teaching personnel and equipment,gaining concrete fundamentals for its development thereafter.This article investigates history of the DIGEO at NWU focusing on the duration of 1902 to1949,based on various kinds of archives,newspapers and magazines,in combination with some oral materials and research works.Aided by research methods of History,History of Science and Technology,Statistics and other disciplines,this article systematically summarizes the origin,incubation,establishment and development of the DIGEO at NWU.The objective of this article is to outline the overall development of the DIGEO at NWU before the founding of the PRC,to explore its henceforth subsequent effects on the research focus,discipline features and educational dimensions and ultimately to provide helpful reference for the current development of the DIGEO at NWU.In addition to Introduction chapter,this article comprises three chapters.The first chapter focuses on the development of the DIGEO in modern China,including the origin and characteristics of Chinese traditional geological knowledge,the formation of modern scientific geology and its development in China.The second chapter concentrates on the origin and incubation of the DIGEO at NWU with two parts respectively discussing spreading of scientific geology at NWU in the periods of‘origin from Shaanxi'(1902-1935)and‘origin from Peking'(1902-1936),and founding of the DIGEO at NWU in the period of National Xi'an Provisional University-National Northwest Associated University(1937-1939).The third chapter investigates the establishment and growth of the DIGEO at NWU during the periods under set-ups of the geology section(1939-1946)and Department of Geology(1947-1949).