Prof. Li Chengjian, Dean of SFL, gave a speech entitled as “The Symphony of Science and Humanity” to kick off the “Enjoy reading classics” series held by SFL’s Gezhi Academy of Classics Learning on March 27th, 2015. Presented at the lecture were Wang Junqi, deputy secretary of SFL’s Party Committee, Prof. Xu Xiaoyan from the Department of English, some teachers and graduate students.
After defining “classics” with original content, creative expression and transcendent values, Prof. Li gave a glowing introduction to The Beginnings of Western Science (one of the 96 classics recommended by SWJTU), an epitome of dynastic history of science. The Beginnings of Western Science, reviewing with 110 rare pictures the history of science in the west in the ancient times and the Middle Ages, covers almost all the important events in mathematics, astronomy, mechanics, optics, natural history and medical science. As the latest work on the history of science, it won George Sutton Award (the highest award of science history in the world) soon after it was published in 1999.
The book is written on the theory of cultural history, theory of imagination of science origin and non-west-centrism. According to Prof. Li, the study on the history of science was an integrated undertaking instead of a one-dimensional effort. When talking about the theory of imagination, she cited Odyssey and Theogony, respectively representing the origin of literature and of science, to illustrate that what literature and science had in common was that both of them originated from imagination. Prof. Li also shared her agreement on the statement that “Non-west-centrism overcomes the limitation of Europe-centralism and west-centrism by giving credit to the contributions made by the nonwestern civilizations to the development of western science”.
Greatly inspired by the interaction between literature and science through the human history, Prof. Li illustrated their magic relationship with some well-recognized science fictions, such as Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Lieues Sous les Mers by Jules Verne’s and the 2014 film Interstellar. The lecture ended with the audience’s cheers and applauses.
Reading classics will improve the college students’ creative thinking as well as their humanity spirit, personality and aesthetic appreciation. As Prof. Li said, while reading good books, as it were, you were understandingly smiling to the wise across a river of time.
A brief introduction to Prof. Li Chengjian:
Dean of School of Foreign Languages in SWJTU ;
Doctor Degree holder of School of Foreign Languages in Sun Yat-Sen University;
Post-doctorate fellowship from Beijing Foreign Studies University;
Visiting scholar at University of Reading, Queen’s University and Trinity College Dublin fully financed by China Scholarship Council;
Leading researcher of a number of national, provincial and ministerial-level scientific research projects;
Teaching the national open video course “Literature and Science: Rereading American and British Literature Works”;
Main research areas: English literature, Irish literature, etc.