Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 2
Perspectives on Space and Time in US
and Chinese Science
Michael F. Goodchild and Peng Gong
2.1
Introduction
In principle, scientific knowledge is universal, and the methods of science similarly
pay no attention to national boundaries, languages, or cultures. In practice, of
course, these assertions are far from true, and great differences exist in how science
is conceived and practiced around the world. Nowhere is this more true than in
comparing scientific practice in the US and in China. The emergence of China onto
the international scientific stage is comparatively recent, following the years of the
Cultural Revolution, the reopening of universities, and the very rapid growth of the
Chinese economy of the past three decades.
These issues penetrate science at all levels and in all domains, and nowhere more
than in geography. The very definition of geographic science demands international
consistency and collaboration, because geography is at once global and transcending
of boundaries. While human systems are to some extent defined by language,
culture, and boundaries, environmental systems are not, and lack of free exchange
of environmental data is clearly an impediment to our understanding of how the
Earth's environmental systems work.
This chapter focuses on these issues as they affect research that is framed in
space and time. The authors represent the US (Goodchild) and China (Gong),
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