Nathan Sivin, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus
Department of History and Sociology of Science
303 Claudia Cohen Hall
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pa. 19104-6304
Tel: 215-898-7098
Fax: 215-573-2231
Email: nsivin@sas.upenn.edu
Web site: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~nsivin/pers.html
Education
M. A. (Hon.), University of Pennsylvania, October 1978
Ph. D. in History of Science, Harvard University, January 1966
M.A. in History of Science, Harvard University, June 1960
S.B. in Humanities and Science (Chemistry minor), M.I.T., June 1958
Experimental 18-month course in Chinese, U. S. Army Language School, 1954-1956
Employment
Professor of Chinese Culture and of the History of Science, University of Pennsylvania, 1977-2006
Assistant Professor of Humanities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1966; Associate Professor, 1969; Professor, 1972
For a complete list of Dr. Sivin's professional accomplishments, go to
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~nsivin/curr.html
Courses Taught
Chinese Culture
Chinese Literature
Chinese Science and Natural Philosophy
Classical Chinese
Classics of Science and Medicine
Current Sinology
Health Care in Traditional and Contemporary China
Introduction to the Far East
Introduction to the History of Science
Medicine and the Body
Methodology in the History of Science
Professions (sociology field work course)
Methods of Research in Sinology
Methods of Research in the History of Chinese Medicine
Organizational Culture (anthropological field work course)
Readings in Chinese Science
Science and Philosophy from Antiquity to Copernicus
Science, Medicine and Ritual
Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment
Taoism (history of Taoist religious movements)
Current Research
An extended investigation of the social relations of Chinese medicine, from a point of view which combines the conceptual tools of history of science with those of cultural and social anthropology and sociology. A central issue is how therapeutic innovations established in popular practice were integrated into the classical medicine of the elite. A book on the subject is in second draft.
The first book-length intellectual biography of a traditional Chinese scientist, the polymath and diplomat Shen Kua 沈括 (1031-1095). A preliminary, exploratory version appeared in 1975.
Translations of key documents for a source book of Chinese science and medicine. Planned overall and gradually accumulating.
A study of the theoretical structure of alchemy, part of a many-faceted study of the theoretical bases of Chinese scientific thought. The first product, a contribution to Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China, appeared in 1980. A more general book will follow after further study.
Forthcoming Publications
For a complete list of Dr. Sivin's publications and lectures, see http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~nsivin/curr.html
A translation of the Season-Granting calendrical treatise (Shou-shih li, 1279) of the Yuan dynastic history, which represents the highest point of sophistication of Chinese mathematical astronomy. This translation will be published integrally with a full introduction. Yabuuti Kiyosi 藪內清 and Nakayama Shigeru 中山茂 collaborated on technical aspects. To be published in July 2008.
Recent Publications
Two essays in The Taoist Canon. A Historical Companion the Daozang, ed. K. M. Schipper & F. Verellen. University of Chicago Press, to appear 2005. With Catherine Despeux.
A New Approach to Comparative and Other Research on Pre-modern Science in China and Europe. In Chung-kuo k’o-chi tien-chi yen-chiu中国科技典籍研究 (Studies of books and records of Chinese science and technology). Zhengzhou: Ta-hsiang.
Reflections on the Batesian Synthesis. In a volume on the work of the late philosopher of medicine Don Bates. Montreal: McGill University Press.
Chinese Medicine in View of Medicine and Healing. In a collection of papers from the conference of the same name, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taiwan, 2005.12.13-15.
