Established in 2011, this Center now has 10 researchers, among whom there are 3 Professors and 4 Associate Professors. Prof. TIAN Miao heads the Center, which seeks to explore the development and models of S&T in varied contexts from a comparative perspective, a new research field for the Institute. The Center is committed to studies on cross-cultural and trans-national history of S&T, including the:  

-comparison of mechanics, cosmology and mathematics in China and Europe;   

- comparison of the transmission of natural philosophy in East Asia;   

- comparison of pictorial representations of technology in China and Europe;  

- comparison of railway technology in China and the United States.  

It is expected to strengthen research on the history of world S&T and in turn to reinforce the study of traditional Chinese S&T through comparative studies. Currently, it has joined in the major programs “the Creation and Transmission of Scientific and Technological Knowledge”, and “Scientific Revolutions, Technological Revolutions and Modernization”, and conducted relevant research in the Priority programs.   

The Center values cooperation with international academic institutions and related research groups in order to combine their respective strengths. In August 2011, the Center organized the International Workshop on the History of Algebra, inviting leading historians of algebra to present comparative studies on algebraic calculation, proof and representation in different cultural traditions. It also organized an International Summer School on the history of mathematics for the first time. In April 2012, the Center contributed to the Sino-Russian Workshop on Comparative Study of the History of Space Technology in collaboration with Russian scholars.  

Chief: TIAN Miao 

Members: CHEN Yue, HAN Qi, HUANG Rongguang, SUN Chengsheng, WANG Bin, ZHAO Zhenjiang, ZOU Dahai