Biomaterial Database

The Rockefeller Foundation, the China Foundation, and the development of modern science in China. 1982

L A Schneider

Two powerful foundations, with interlocking directorates, were the most important media for transmitting American science to China and for making its development possible: In the 1920s and 1930s, the Rockefeller Foundation's China Medical Board and the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture recognized that transmission and development required much more than the transplantation of whole scientific institutions. This essay shows that, in their most mature form, the foundations' strategies were informed by a rational and coherent set of policies. Their premise was that the practice and development of advanced scientific medicine and bio-medical or natural scientific research all require an infrastructure of education, communication, physical plant, and equipment. This infrastructure did not exist before the foundations began to foster it in China. In this essay the foundations' China policies are outlined and detailed examples are given to show they built the science infrastructure amidst debate over the appropriateness of the dominant 'Johns Hopkins' institutional model and the norm of 'pure science'. In China, the 'Hopkins' model for medical training and practice featured a combination of clinical practice with sophisticated scientific laboratory research. This model and the 'pure science' norm were seriously challenged by the political and economic exigencies of the 1930s.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008962	Models, Theoretical	Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of systems, processes, or phenomena. They include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.	Experimental Model,Experimental Models,Mathematical Model,Model, Experimental,Models (Theoretical),Models, Experimental,Models, Theoretic,Theoretical Study,Mathematical Models,Model (Theoretical),Model, Mathematical,Model, Theoretical,Models, Mathematical,Studies, Theoretical,Study, Theoretical,Theoretical Model,Theoretical Models,Theoretical Studies
D002681	China	A country spanning from central Asia to the Pacific Ocean.	Inner Mongolia,Manchuria,People's Republic of China,Sinkiang,Mainland China
D005582	Foundations	Organizations established by endowments with provision for future maintenance.	Foundation
D006291	Health Policy	Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.	Health Care Policies,Health Policies,Healthcare Policy,National Health Policy,Care Policies, Health,Health Care Policy,Health Policy, National,Healthcare Policies,National Health Policies,Policies, Health,Policies, Health Care,Policies, Healthcare,Policy, Health,Policy, Health Care,Policy, Healthcare
D012586	Science	The study of natural phenomena by observation, measurement, and experimentation.	Sciences
D014481	United States	A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D049673	History, 20th Century	Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.	20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History