Science is Glocal: Historiographical Perspectives on the Circulation Of “Newtonianism”

Öz

This article proposes a glocal historiographical approach to understanding the global circulation of Newtonianism between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Drawing on Roland Robertson’s concept of glocalization, it argues that while modern science aspires to universal validity, it is continually reshaped within specific intellectual, institutional, and material contexts. By examining the reception of Newtonian ideas in China, India, and Latin America, the study challenges diffusionist models that depict scientific knowledge as emanating linearly from Europe. Instead, it highlights how Newtonian science was negotiated, translated, and reconfigured in diverse settings, giving rise to locally grounded yet globally connected scientific practices. The article situates this perspective within broader historiographical shifts, including critiques of Eurocentrism, postcolonial and feminist science studies, and the rise of transnational histories of knowledge. Through cases such as the adaptation of Newtonian mechanics within Indian mathematical traditions, the pedagogical reforms shaped by José Celestino Mutis in New Granada, and the selective appropriation of Newtonian principles in Imperial China, the study demonstrates that scientific concepts acquire meaning through processes of cultural translation and contextual reinterpretation. By foregrounding these encounters, the article advances the notion of “situated universality,” suggesting that scientific universality emerges not from uniformity but from the negotiated outcomes of glocal interactions. A glocal perspective thus enables a more nuanced and epistemically inclusive account of the history of science, revealing how global scientific paradigms are co-produced through the interplay of local agency and global circulation.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Newtonianism
• Glocalization
• Global History of Science
• Knowledge Circulation
• Situated Universality
• Reception of Science

Bilim Glokaldir: Newtonculuğun Dolaşımına Dair Tarih Yazımsal Perspektifler

Öz

Bu makale, Newtonculuğun on sekizinci ile yirminci yüzyıllar arasındaki küresel dolaşımını inceleyerek bilim tarihine glokal bir tarih yazımı çerçevesi önermektedir. Roland Robertson’ın “glokalleşme” kavramından hareketle modern bilimin evrensel geçerlilik iddiasına rağmen her zaman belirli entelektüel, kurumsal ve maddi bağlamlarda yeniden şekillendiği savunulmaktadır. Çin, Hindistan ve Latin Amerika’da Newtoncu fikirlerin alımlanmasına odaklanan çalışma, bilimsel bilginin Avrupa’dan tek yönlü bir doğrultuda yayıldığını varsayan difüzyoncu modelleri sorgulamakta; aksine Newtoncu bilginin her bağlamda müzakere, çeviri ve yeniden anlamlandırma süreçlerinden geçtiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Makale bu yaklaşımı, Euro-merkkezcilik eleştirileri, postkolonyal ve feminist bilim çalışmaları ve bilgi dolaşımını öne çıkaran transnasyonel tarih yazımı gibi daha geniş tarih yazımsal dönüşümler içinde konumlandırmaktadır. Newtoncu mekaniğin Hindistan’daki matematik gelenekleriyle etkileşimi, Yeni Granada’da José Celestino Mutis’in pedagojik reformlarında oynadığı rol ve Newtonculuğun Çin’deki seçici uyarlamaları gibi örnekler, bilimsel kavramların kültürel çeviri ve bağlamsal yeniden yorumlama süreçleriyle nasıl yeni anlamlar kazandığını göstermektedir. Bu çerçevede makale, “yerleşik evrensellik” kavramını öne sürerek bilimsel evrenselliğin homojenlikten değil, glokal etkileşimlerin müzakere edilmiş sonuçlarından doğduğunu savunmaktadır. Glokal bir perspektif, bilim tarihine daha kapsayıcı ve epistemik olarak adil bir yaklaşım sunarak küresel bilimsel paradigmaların yerel aktörlerin katkılarıyla nasıl birlikte üretildiğini görünür kılmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Newtonculuk
• Glokalleşme / Glokal
• Bilim Tarihinin Küresel Yaklaşımı
• Bilgi Dolaşımı
• Yerleşik Evrensellik
• Bilimin Alımlanması / Bilimsel Kabul Süreçleri

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