Fa-Ti Fan, State University of New York at Binghamton and Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Rutgers University
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Place: Van Dyck Hall, 301, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Pre-circulated paper; for a copy, contact James Delbourgo, jdelbourgo@history.rutgers.edu
Abstract: China experienced a series of major earthquakes in the 1960s and 70s. In response to the threat of earthquakes, earthquake prediction became one of the most important and urgent scientific programs in China. Guided by scientific ideas as well as political beliefs, the Chinese developed theories and practices of earthquake prediction based on everyday observation, and the Communist state recruited the masses for this purpose. This paper examines mass participation in earthquake prediction in Communist China with an emphasis on the epistemology underlying the techniques of observation and prediction.