Study On College Physics Textbooks In The Republic Of China (1912-1949)

As an imperative branch of modern higher education,"college physics" in the Republic of China period(1912-1949),played an important role in the development of science and technology in China.On the basis of referring Chinese and foreign books,periodicals and other relevant literature,this paper selects four classic textbooks of college physics,including " A TEST-BOOK OF PHYSICS " by Duff,"General Physics" by Sa Bendong,"General Physics" by Dai Yungui,and "General Physics" by Yan Jici,and makes a systematic analysis and comparative study of their contents.It reveals the profound significance of the content of college physics textbooks to the development of Chinese physics at that time and even to modern college physics education."A TEST-BOOK OF PHYSICS" published in 1908,edited by Duff in the United States,became the textbook used by most missionary universities and public and private schools at that time.The content is concise and easy to understand.It was the most influential college physics textbook at that time.The original work was co-written by seven academics,it’s novel and is widely used around the world.In 1936,the Chinese version was published by Tong Shaohua.After that,Zhang Fangjie,Guo Yuanyi and Zhang Kaiqi translated three versions of "A TEST-BOOK OF PHYSICS" respectively and revised the version for many times,adding or deleting many contents successively."General Physics",written by Sa Bentong,was published by Shanghai Commercial Press in 1933.It was the first college physics textbook written and published in Chinese.Because of its scientific and systematic content,the book was issued by the Ministry of Education in 1940 as a college physics textbook in the "College Series".Its companion "General Physics Experiment" can be regarded as the model of college physics textbook from1930 s to the early 1950 s.The book was adopted by many universities and used in China for more than 20 years,during which time it also went through several revisions and was eventually printed in as many as 16 editions."General Physics" written by Dai Yungui was an important university textbook in the Republic of China period,published in 1943.As Dai Yungui has experience in writing middle school textbooks,his general Physics is better connected with middle school physics knowledge than other textbooks of the same kind.In addition to mechanics,heat,sound,electricity,light and other contents,the book also involves "atomic physics","relativity" and other modern physical knowledge,the description is brief,illustrated,pay attention to the logical and systematic knowledge of physics,but there are points of knowledge not as accurate as other textbooks."General Physics" compiled by Yan Ji Ci is another classic work of college physics published in the Republic of China period(1948).The book involves the latest theories,experiments and theories at that time.It is a compilation of "General Physics"(Sa Ben Dong)and "General Physics"(Dai Yun Gui),and has an important inspiration and reference for the compilation of college physics textbooks.This paper makes a comprehensive analysis of the above four classic college physics textbooks,and then discusses the three classic theories which are very important in college "General Physics" : the "Three Basic Laws of Newtonian Mechanics" of classical mechanics;the basis of optics "The Nature of Light" and "Electromagnetic Theory" conducted in-depth comparative research,pointed out the unique expression methods of the above three classic theories in each book,compared the similarities and differences between them and the use of physics terms in the book,found out that there are many similarities and certain differences between the various editions of translations Duff’s "A Test-Book of Physics" and other four localized versions of "General Physics".There are even some differences between different editions of same book,which reveals the development history of college physics textbooks in the Republic of China period.Furthermore,it introduces some other influential strongly textbooks that used by many colleges and universities during the Republic of China period:the "Essence of Physics" written by Takuro Tamaru and translated by Zhou Changshou,"College Physics" written by Kimball,translated by Tu Yuqing,"Advanced Physics",written by German Westphal,translated by Zhou Junshi and Yao Qijun and "University Physics" written by American Schills and Zimanski,translated by Yang Zhaolian.It is found that,the translators in the period of the Republic of China period,knowledge structure,background of study and the nature of the work directly affect the content selection and the use of noun terms in compiling textbooks.The continuous development of physics itself has become one of the fundamental reasons for the continuous updating and repeated revision of the contents of the “General Physics”textbooks of universities.The process of translation and compilation of college physics textbooks at the University of the Republic of China period is the course of the spread and development of modern physics in China.It is also the continuous cultivation and innovation of the Chinese nation on the basis of the absorption and digestion of outstanding foreign cultures,so that it can take root and blossom in the local area on a path to self-development course.During the period of the Republic of China,through the translation and editing of textbooks,the foundation was laid for the establishment of Chinese own textbook system,thus making an important contribution to the development of China’s scientific undertakings.