Janus: Papers of Joseph Needham as a historian of Chinese science, technology and medicine

Needham/NRI2/SCC2 contains:
<-- See earlier
84	Geology and palaeontology
85	Seismology
86	Mineralogy
87	Physics: General
88	Origins of the metric system
89	Documents relating to two letters written by the Jesuit Father J. J. M. Amiot (1692-1776) on Chinese weights, balances, weighing machines and measures
90	Physics: Optics
91	Glass
92	'The Optick Artists of Chiangsu', a paper by Joseph Needham and Lu Gwei Djen
93	Physics: Acoustics
94	Physics: Magnetism and electricity 1
See later -->

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Papers of Joseph Needham as a historian of Chinese science, technology and medicine

Title	Documents relating to two letters written by the Jesuit Father J. J. M. Amiot (1692-1776) on Chinese weights, balances, weighing machines and measures
Reference	SCC2/89
Covering Dates	1960–12 Dec. 1967
Extent and Medium	Paper

Content and context

The documents also relate to Joseph Needham's investigation of Amiot's supposed 'invention' of the 'substitution' method of weighing.

Needham/NRI2/SCC2/89 contains:

Letter from L. Essen of the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, about the origins of methods of weighing of Borda and Gauss and related document. The related document is a copy of 'Notes on Applied Science No. 7; Balances, Weights and Precise Laboratory Weighing', (National Physical Laboratory, 1962). Joseph Needham has marked a page which refers to the 'substitution method' of Gauss and the 'double weighings' of Borda.
Creator: Essen, L.; Needham, Joseph.
3 pieces; Paper.

1962–3 Jan. 1964

Letter from W. W. Dieneman of the University of Dublin, advising Joseph Needham that the Trintity College Library does not hold a copy of 'Mémoires de Mathematique et de Physique' (Marseilles, 1755, Avignon, 1756) by Father E Pézanas, S.J. (1692-1776). The Amiot letters are included in this volume.
Creator: Dieneman, W. W.
1 document; Paper.

14 July 1965

Letter from E. Parsons [?] of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, advising Joseph Needham that the Library does not hold a copy of 'Mémoires de Mathematique et de Physique' (Marseilles, 1755, Avignon, 1756) by Father E Pézanas, S.J. (1692-1776). The Amiot letters are included in this volume.
1 document; Paper.

12 July 1965

Letter from C. C. Denaugnon [?] of the Service Photographique of the Bibliothèque National, Paris, France, advising Joseph Needham that they could not find the Amiot letters in 'Memoires de Mathematiques et de Physique' by Pére E Pézanas. The documents also include papers from the library relating to Needham's order of a copy of the letters.
3 sheets; Paper.

10 Sep. 1965–23 Sep. 1965

Correspondence with Huang Kuang-Ming [M. Wong] about obtaining a copy of the letters. Huang referred to the letters in a monograph written with Professor P. Huard entitled 'Les Enquêtes Francaise sur la Science et la Technologie Choinoises au 18e Siècle'.
Creator: Huang Kuang-Ming; Needham, Joseph.
6 sheets; Paper.

23 Nov. 1966

Copy of a letter from Joseph Needham to the Librarian of the Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Paris, about obtaining a copy of the letters and resulting documents. The resulting documents comprise a letter from Mme Hautecoeur of the Institut adivising Needham that he should apply to the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique for the copies; copy of a letter from Needham to the Centre requesting copies of the letters.
Creator: Hautecoeur; Needham, Joseph.
3 sheets; Paper.

20 Feb. 1967–5 Mar. 1967

Photocopy of the two Amiot letters and acompanying documentation from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France.
26 sheets; Paper.

13 Apr. 1967

Joseph Needham's note of the reference to the letters.
1 document; Paper.

1960–1962

Correspondence with Dr. Churchill Eisenhart of the National Bureau of Standards, Washington D.C., U.S.A., about the possibililty that Amiot invented the 'substitution' method of weighing. The documents comprise 2 letters and 1 postcard from Eisenhart; copy of 2 letters of reply from Joseph Needham.
Creator: Eisenhart, Churchill; Needham, Joseph.
9 sheets; Paper.

31 May 1963–12 Dec. 1967

Joseph Needham's original file title.
1 document; Paper.

1963–1967