From November 3rd to 5th, the Beijing Forum (2023) on “Reshaping the Dialogue: Histories of Science, Technology and Medicine and the Contemporary World”, hosted by the Department of History of Science Technology and Medicine，Peking University, was successfully held in the second conference room of the Yingjie Exchange Centre of Peking University. During the three-day conference, more than 20 scholars in the history of science, technology and medicine from 18 universities and research institutes in seven countries and regions discussed how the disciplines of the history of science, technology and medicine can contribute to the dialogue and exchange among countries, between the scientific community and the general public, and between science, medicine and the humanities in the face of the global community’s eagerness to “reshape dialogue” in the post-pandemic era.

Guests at the forum gathered at Peking University from universities around the world; included Togo Tsukahara, Professor at Kobe University, Japan; Iwo Amelung, Professor at the University of Frankfurt, Germany; Marta Hanson, Scholar-in-Residence at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Germany; Professor Akihito Suzuki of the University of Tokyo, Japan, as well as leading experts in China, such as Guo Liping of Peking University, Wu Guosheng of Tsinghua University, Qian Wei of the University of Science and Technology Beijing, Zhou Cheng of Peking University, Zhang Daqing of Peking University, Shi Yunli of the University of Science and Technology of China, Yu Xinzhong of Nankai University, and so on. The online participants included Catherine Jami, Professor at CNRS; Simone Turchetti, Professor at the University of Manchester; Wang Zuoyue, Professor at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Angelika Messner, Professor at the University of Kiel; Francesca Bray, Professor at the University of Edinburgh, UK; Fa-ti Fan, Professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton, USA; Roy Macleod, Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia; Sigrid Schmalzer, Professor at the University of Massachusetts, USA. Professor Zhang Li, Chair and Professor of the Department of History of Science Technology and Medicine at Peking University, Associate Professor Chen Hao, Assistant Professor John Alekna, and Assistant Professor Daniele Macuglia also attended and spoke at the conference.

Academician Han Qide, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, Chairman of the High-end Advisory Committee of the Beijing Forum, and Founding Director of the Department of the History of Science Technology and Medicine of Peking University, delivered a speech at the opening of the sub-forum, in which he systematically introduced the historical origins, the current development status, and future vision of the Department of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine of Peking University, and focused on the theme of the sub-forum, proposing that the Department of the History of Science Technology and Medicine should play an active role in the mission of promoting multicultural exchanges and understandings, so as to contribute to the construction of a common destiny of mankind.

The first session of the sub-forum held in the afternoon of the 3rd was moderated by Professor Zhang Li. Professor Togo Tsukahara presented “Climate Changes in History: Review and Prospect”, discussing how historical research can contribute to the analysis of climate changes and its derivatives by preserving meteorological scientific data from the perspective of history of science, taking East Asia as an example. Professor Guo Liping from Peking University gave her presentation on “An Overview of Narrative Medicine in China”. She introduced the process of narrative medicine from its introduction in China to its development into “narrative medicine with Chinese characteristics”, as well as its main features. She also discussed the development prospects of medical humanities.

The second session of the sub-forum held in the afternoon of the 3rd was moderated by Assistant Professor Daniele Macuglia. Catherine Jami, Director of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, gave a lecture entitled “Translating Sources: Nourishing the Conversation Among Historians of Science, Technology and Medicine”. She emphasised the importance of sharing data globally, and therefore the importance of translating pre-modern research sources, while conducting historiography of science, technology and medicine from a global perspective. She also raised questions and insights on how to improve the translation of historical materials. Professor Amelon gave his presentation on “Historiography of Chinese Science and Technology as an International Endeavour”. He presented courses and cases of international collaborative research in Chinese history of science and technology since the 1930s. By analysing and critiquing the development of research in this field, he offered suggestions for future international efforts to understand Chinese contributions to science and technology. Professor Simone Turchetti from the University of Manchester gave his presentation on “Find the Gap! Histories of Science, Technology and Medicine as a Means to Identify and Address Global Inequalities”. Using the global distribution of research data as an example, he highlighted the historical origins of the uneven distribution of global science, technology and medical resources and the uneven development across states and regions. He also offered analytical tools to consider the potential of international collaborative projects to address these problems.

The third session of the sub-forum held in the morning of the 4th was moderated by Professor Shi Yunli. The first speaker was Professor Wu Guosheng of Tsinghua University, who made a presentation entitled “Review and Prospect of the Discipline of History of Science and Technology in China”. Professor Wu Guosheng systematically traced the development of the discipline of history of science and technology in China, and argued that the early development of the discipline of history of science and technology in China served the needs of patriotism, and provided more of “scientists’ history of science”, Whig history, empirical history, and specialised history. In the 21st century, the study of the history of science and technology has shifted to comprehensive history, history of thought, social history, and western history, which serves to better understand science, carry out general education, and highlight the cultural dimension of science. Professor Qian Wei of the University of Science and Technology Beijing gave a presentation entitled “The Contemporary Value of the History of Technological Innovation”. He analysed a number of important cases of innovation in history as a means of clarifying the difference between technological innovation, technological invention and science. He stressed the need to attach great importance to the study of the history of innovation in order to discover more clearly the nature and operating mechanisms of innovation, so as to cope with and solve the various problems faced by innovation in contemporary times. Professor Wang Zuoyue’s presentation was entitled “Chinese American Biomedical Scientists: A Historical Study of their Experiences and Contributions from the Cold War to COVID-19”, in which he examined the experiences of a group of outstanding Chinese scientists in the field of biomedical sciences in the U.S. after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and explored the impacts of geopolitical, occupational network, and individual factors on the careers of these scientists, as well as how they have helped to reshape the U.S. and China’s science and education policies. Professor Zhou Cheng gave a lecture on “What is a Virus? A Historical Review of the Discovery of Tobacco Mosaic Virus”, Professor Zhou Cheng examined the historical process of the discovery of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) from the perspective of the history of scientific thought. He pointed out that scientific discovery does not happen overnight, but is the result of continuous collective learning among scientists across generations, countries and specialties, and that only a scientific ecology that encourages questioning and tolerates dissent can promote scientific innovation and development.

The fourth session of the sub-forum held in the morning of 4th was chaired by Prof Yu Xinzhong. Professor Zhang Daqing’s report “Contemporary Significance of Education in the History of Science” centred on the development of education in the history of science and technology, especially the history of medicine, in China. He emphasised that education of history of science technology and medicine, which is an important part of a scientist’s education, should be characterised by inclusiveness, diversity and interdisciplinarity to help students shape a broader perspective. Professor Shi Yunli’s presentation was “Knowledge Introduction versus Cultural Understanding: A Lesson from the Importation of Western Astronomy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties”, in which he carefully examined the introduction of the “Hijri Calendar” in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. He argued that the cross-cultural introduction of science is not only about introducing practical techniques and theories, but that cultural understanding is a very important aspect, even more important than knowledge itself. Assistant Professor Daniele Macuglia from Peking University delivered a presentation titled “The Transformative Power of Computer Modelling: Understanding COVID-19’s Impact.” He examined the evolution of predictive science from ancient astronomical calculations to contemporary computer modelling, focusing on the critical role of computer simulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that with greater accuracy comes greater responsibility in predictive science, calling for humility and responsible use of predictive models.

The fifth session of the sub-forum held in the afternoon of the 4th was moderated by Professor Wu Guosheng. Professor Yu Xinzhong’s presentation was titled “Calamity Culture and Modern Revelations in Traditional Chinese Plague Narratives”, in which he systematically researched the history of China’s response to plague, and argued that although China’s traditional methods of responding to plague may not have achieved significant practical results from a technical perspective when compared with contemporary methods, traditional “Calamity Culture” can help human beings to restrain greed and help achieve sustainable development. In “Narrative Medicine in China and the Chinese Sources of Narrative Medicine”, Marta Hanson systematically introduced the history of the development of the discipline of Narrative Medicine, especially the development of “Narrative Medicine with Chinese Characteristics” in China in the past decade or so, and called for more attention and support for Narrative Medicine in China. Professor Zhang Li’s presentation was entitled “Diplomacy for Science: Another Perspective on China’s International Science and Technology Exchange in the Context of the Cold War”. Taking historical events such as China’s participation in the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) as examples, she analyses the drivers of transnational S&T activities from the perspective of the internal logic of S&T development, while focusing on the impact of diplomatic relations on transnational S&T activities. Based on the rich archives of Ohji Brain Hospital in Tokyo (1901-1945), Professor Kojin Suzuki focused on the role of family and police power in the history of psychiatric hospital development, and analysed the social and economic influences by examining the changes in the geographic distribution of psychiatric hospitals in the Tokyo and Osaka regions of Japan from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.

The sixth session of the sub-forum, held in the afternoon of the 4th, was moderated by Associate Professor Chen Hao. Professor Angelika Messner’s presentation was titled “Self-cultivation Matters”, arguing that mankind is facing a crisis of intellectual authority since the Covid-19 epidemic. China’s experience in responding to the epidemic embodies the concept of “cultivating one’s moral character” emphasised in traditional Chinese education, which may provide a solution to the current crisis of knowledge. Assistant Professor John Alekna’s core concern is communication between different communities. He believes that the key to the problem lies not in communication facilities, nor in the translation of grammar and words, but in the structural differences in the way of thinking between different communities. Historians of science have demonstrated that we can achieve a higher quality of mutual understanding and dialogue, while at the same time identifying and acknowledging the gaps that currently exist. In her presentation “Global Past, Global Presents: Decolonizing the History of Technology to Build New Solidarities”, Professor Francesca Bray argued that in recent years historians of technology have been working to redraw a new picture of a decolonised and decentralised West, which has prompted us to rethink what technology is. With this in mind, she is organising the publication of a three-volume Cambridge History of Technology.

On the morning of the 5th, a round table on the theme of “Reshaping the Dialogue: Histories of Science, Technology and Medicine and the Contemporary World” was held in the sub-forum, inviting a number of researchers in the history of science, technology and medicine to discuss the issue from two perspectives: on the one hand, the observation of the world community of science, technology and medicine; on the other hand, the dilemmas, challenges and responses to the international community of the history of science. Moderated by Zhang Li and Fa-ti Fan, the discussion began with keynote speeches by Roy MacLeod, Sigrid Schmalzer, Marta Hanson, Shi Yunli, and Togo Tsukahara, followed by discussions with Akihito Suzuki, Iwo Amelung, Qian Wei, Chen Hao, and Daniele Macuglia. Participating scholars recalled the impact on social economy, scientific and technological development, academic activities and other aspects of the epidemic since the outbreak of the epidemic, with the superposition of nationalism, geopolitics, the epidemic and other factors, and called for the study of the history of science as an opportunity to work to break down barriers to communication and restart dialogue. At the same time, the participating scholars pointed out that the discipline of history of science is entering a new normal era, and more efforts need to be made in the future in terms of international cooperation, translation of historical materials, construction of databases, cross-cutting of digital humanities, and cultivation of young talents.

Finally, as the organiser of this sub-forum, Professor Zhang Li made a concluding speech. She said that during the two-day seminar, more than twenty scholars in the history of science, technology, and medicine conducted in-depth and enthusiastic discussions from diversified research perspectives, and contributed a lot of insights, and that the initial idea of restarting the dialogue has undoubtedly been put into practice with the concerted efforts of all of them, and that the research with both historical perspective and practical concern will certainly be able to contribute to the promotion of global cooperation in science.

The just-concluded Roundtable Forum in particular demonstrated that the experience of blocked exchanges during the epidemic has made the promotion of exchanges and the reshaping of dialogue an even more fervent common aspiration of the global community. In the post-pandemic era, international academic exchanges still face major challenges from the international situation, and researchers in the history of science and technology and the history of medicine have a greater obligation to make use of their own research expertise, learn from historical experiences, and provide solutions that are useful for promoting pluralistic exchanges in the contemporary world.

In this forum, Professor Roy MacLeod proposed that, on the basis of the discussion in this forum, the “Beijing Protocol”, which is based on the consensus of the international community of history of science, technology and medicine, should be completed, so as to promote the normalisation of international academic exchanges, which can be carried out in multiple languages and in multiple ways. The Beijing Protocol was unanimously accepted by the scholars attending the conference. Based on the common aspiration of the international academic community, the Department of History of Science Technology and Medicine of Peking University will actively explore the establishment of a more open, inclusive and effective academic exchange platform to promote international cooperation, help to enhance the international education level and global reputation of Peking University, and lay a solid humanistic foundation for the building of a community of human destiny.