Inuzuka, T;
Alexander Williamson: A Victorian chemist and the making
of modern Japan (Haruko Laurie, Trans.).
[Book].
UCL Press: London, UK.
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Abstract
Alexander Williamson was professor of chemistry at UCL (1849–87) and a leading scientist of his time. He taught and cared for visiting Japanese students, thereby assisting them with their goal of modernising Japan. This short, accessible biography explores his contribution to nineteenth-century science as well as his lasting impact on Japanese society. In 1863 five students from the Chōshū clan, with a desperate desire to learn from the West, made their way to England. They were put in the care of Williamson and his wife. Their mission was to learn about cutting-edge Western technology, science, economics and politics. When they returned home they rapidly became leading figures in Japanese life at a particularly turbulent time, one of them serving as the country’s first prime minister. Subsequently many other Japanese students followed in their footsteps and studied at UCL. The remarkable story of the part Williamson and UCL played in the modernisation of Japan is little known today. This biography will promote a deeper understanding of Williamson’s scientific innovations and his legacy for Anglo-Japanese relations. An Afterword briefly outlines the extraordinary careers of the pioneering students after they left Britain.
| Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| Title: | Alexander Williamson: A Victorian chemist and the making of modern Japan |
| ISBN-13: | 9781787359314 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.14324/111.9781787359314 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787359314 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Text © London Shogyoji Trust, 2021 Translation © Haruko Laurie, 2021 Images © Contributors and copyright holders named in captions, 2021 The authors have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the authors of this work. This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Non-derivative 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This licence allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-commercial use providing author and publisher attribution is clearly stated. Attribution should include the following information: Inuzuka, Takaaki. 2021. Alexander Williamson: A Victorian chemist and the making of modern Japan. Translated by Haruko Laurie. London: UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787359314. Further details about Creative Commons licences are available at http://creative commons.org/licenses/ Any third-party material in this book is published under the book’s Creative Commons licence unless indicated otherwise in the credit line to the material. If you would like to reuse any third-party material not covered by the book’s Creative Commons licence, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. |
| Keywords: | Alexander Williamson, Japan, UCL, chemistry |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10128509 |
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