Description
Book SynopsisSeen from “inside the IAU,” this book tells the in-depth story of a major crisis in which China “divorced” from the International Astronomical Union in 1960 as a protest against the admission of Taiwan. This happened to all the scientific unions at the same time, and to the Olympic Games, which, unexpectedly, would serve as a laboratory for the “reconciliation” which took place following the re-opening of China to the world 20 years later.
The so-called “China conflict” is the most important crisis in the post-WWII history of the IAU. Yet, many details about this conflict and its links to broader geopolitical events have long remained unsettled, obscure, or altogether absent. In particular, the book describes for the first time the “separation” period, which covered the Cultural Revolution, and in which the IAU made desperate official efforts to reach out to China, while some groups of Western and Chinese astronomers managed to keep contact at times. On the occasion of the IAU Centenary celebrations in 2019, the book revisits this painful succession of events using unpublished documents from the IAU Archives and the International Council of Scientific Unions. The book also contains supplementary typescripts of selected handwritten correspondences and the full translation of key original Chinese documents unknown to readers outside China.
What emerges is a complex and fascinating story of human relations and science diplomacy under the shadow of the Cold War. Readers will learn how the 20-year “China conflict” as lived by astronomers and scientists is important not only for the history of the IAU, but also for the history of contemporary China.
“This book is full of so many original documents of the IAU office, very reliable and good to open to the public readers.” Shuhua Ye, Shanghai Observatory (IAU Vice-President, 1988-1994)
This book is a companion book to "Astronomers as Diplomats," published at the same time in the same series.
Trade Review“The book is informative and well-written in general … . the book, well-sourced and quite readable, serves not only as a solid contribution to the history of the IAU, Chinese astronomy, and Cold War science diplomacy, but also as a timely reminder of how geol-politics can powerfully reshape international scientific interactions.” (Zuoyue Wang, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Vol. 26 (3), 2023)
Table of Contents1. Foreword
2. Historical background
2.1. From a World War to the next
2.2. Historical background in East Asia: Taiwan
2.3. Korea
2.4. Mainland China
Note on Chinese names
3. The divorce
3.1. From Dublin to Moscow: Taiwan appears on the scene
3.2. The Moscow General Assembly (1958)
3.3. A Cold War context: the 1960 Winter Olympics in California
3.4. The new Executive Committee: a highly experienced leadership
3.5. Herstmonceux Castle: the 18th Executive Committee meeting
3.6. The IAU Statutes in 1958
3.7. The proposal by D. Sadler
3.8. The tumultuous withdrawal of China
3.9. An enigmatic “radioteletype”
3.10. The 1961 General Assembly at Berkeley: the tortuous path to ratification
3.11. New Cold War challenges for the IAU
4. China vs. Taiwan: a general problem for scientific unions
4.1. The International Scientific Unions and China in 1958
4.2. The aftermath of the “China-Taiwan crisis”: the IAU vs. other unions
5. Living in separate worlds
5.1. The “ice age”
5.2. The turning point: China admitted to the UN
5.3. A man with a mission: the Goldberg presidency
5.4. The ICSU Mission to China
5.5. Astronomers in China: Act II
5.6. A hopeless situation
5.7. Declarations and unrest at the Grenoble GA (1976)
6. The question of Taiwan: Pressure from UNESCO
6.1. The UNESCO resolution of 1973
6.2. UNESCO, Act II (1975)
6.3. The ICSU dissidents
7. The uncertain road to reconciliation
7.1. “Melting the iceberg”
7.2. A rapidly evolving geopolitical context
7.3. Speeding up: the Montreal opportunity
7.4. A final, general agreement: the IAU, ICSU and other Unions
8. Conclusions
8.1. The admission of Taiwan : was it “political”?
8.2. Was it legal?
8.3. Was it right?
8.4. Why did the “happy ending” happen so quickly?
8.5. Concluding remarks
9. Epilogue
Acknowledgements
References
Appendices
1. D. Sadler’s “Personal Account” of 1976
2. Exchange of letters between Chang and Oort
3. Radioteletype transcript
4. Statement of China after ICSU GA in Instanbul (English/Chinese)
5. The “Montreal Agreement”
Supplements
1. Translation of Chapter 5 (Sect. 4 and 5) of the book “Under One Starry Sky: the history of the International Astronomical Union (IAU)” by Fu Chengqi, and Ye Shuhua ((In Chinese: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, Shanghai, 2009), pp. 128-167. Translated by Yi Zhou
2.
The admission of Taiwan to membership of the International Astronomical Union: a personal account by D.H. Sadler (typescript by TM of a handwritten document, dated 12 December 1976); 5p.
Index of names
