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The Father of Biophysics in China

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Book cover A History of Biophysics in Contemporary China

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology ((BRIEFSHIST))

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Abstract

This chapter intends to elucidate the academic heritage and intellectual background of the father of biophysics in China. My central argument is that if we want to learn about biophysics in China, we have to learn more about Bei Shizhang; if we want to understand Bei, we have to pay a visit to his intellectual world. But this world is complex and many-faceted, for Bei is not just an institution builder and a visionary leader, he is also a charismatic leader and a controversial scientist. This chapter explores these various facets of Bei Shizhang by chronicling his early life in China, the correlation between the formation of his scientific worldview and the naturphilosophie of his neo-Lamarckian German teacher, Wilhelm Harms. I also consider Bei’s contested scientific pursuit––the theory of cell reformation which had some parallels with O.B. Lepeshinskaya’s now discredited studies of “the origins of life” in the Soviet Union––within the larger sets of issues involving Soviet-styled biology, the perception of Marxist philosophy, and political patronage of cytology in twentieth-century Communist states.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There were many news reports, videos, and articles between October and November 2009 on Bei’s death and legacy. See the following for some of the most representative ones: Committee of the Funeral Service of Bei Shizhang (2009), Zhao and Chen (2009), China News (2009), Xinhua News (2009), Science Times (2009), People’s Daily (2009).

  2. 2.

    In chronicling Bei’s life and work, Bei’s student Ying Youmei divided his timeline into three stages: the first stage spanned from his pre-German schooling and German education to his return to China where he was appointed as chair of the biology department at Zhejiang University (Zheda), a position he held from 1930 to 1949. The Zheda period was stage two. In 1950, he moved to Beijing to establish and organize the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. That was stage three.

  3. 3.

    I thank Raffael Himmelsbach for his help with the German translation.

  4. 4.

    The English scientific name was coined to capture the fact that this insect is a Nanjing (aka Nanking)-originated species (nankinensis) in the family of chirocephalus. The Chinese name was given by a folklore belief that the appearance of this shrimp in wintertime, along with heavy snowstorms, is a harbinger of a productive year as summarized in the Chinese proverb “heavy snow forecasts a good harvest year” (瑞雪兆丰年).

  5. 5.

    Between 1988 and 2003, two Chinese volumes by the title of Cell reformation I and II were published. The twin volumes contain follow-up and new research on cell reformation under the laboratory guidance of Bei Shizhang. In addition to cell reformation of c. nankinensis yolk granules, sources of experimental data in these studies were broadened to include self-assembly of reforming cells in the early development of chicken embryos, nucleus reformation of cultured bone marrow cells of adult mice, cell proliferation of chlamydia trachomatis, and reconstruction of cells in Rhizobium japonicum in glycine gracilis. However, none of these experiments have been externally reviewed and/or testified by a third party. The figures and data published in these volumes remain less than satisfactory. See Bei, ed. (1988, 2003b).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology Ph.D. Program, Arizona State University, AZ, USA

    Christine Yi Lai Luk

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Luk, C.Y.L. (2015). The Father of Biophysics in China. In: A History of Biophysics in Contemporary China. SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18093-9_2

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