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01 Jan 1993
TL;DR: The story of a failed attempt by the British, in 1793, to open the Chinese Empire to Western trade is described in this paper, where the author has made use of a variety of sources, including, on the British side, the diary of the 12-year-old Thomas Stanton, son of Macartney's deputy, who was the only person in the whole English fleet who spoke Chinese, and newly discovered secret reports of the Emperor's officials, all annotated by the Emperor himself.
Abstract: This is the story of a failed attempt by the British, in 1793, to open the Chinese Empire to Western trade. Led by Lord Macartney, whose distinguished diplomatic posts included India and the Caribbean, the enormous British expedition of nearly 700 men included doctors, scholars, painters, musicians, soldiers and young aristocrats, and lasted more than two years, and its success would have redefined the history of the 19th and 20th centuries. The author has made use of a variety of sources, including, on the British side, the diary of the 12-year-old Thomas Stanton, son of Macartney's deputy, who was the only person in the whole English fleet who spoke Chinese, and, on the Chinese side, the newly discovered secret reports of the Emperor's officials, all annotated by the Emperor himself.
28 citations
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TL;DR: Generalized trust has become a paramount topic throughout the social sciences, in its own right and as the key civic component of social capital as discussed by the authors, and cross-national research relies on the stan...
Abstract: Generalized trust has become a paramount topic throughout the social sciences, in its own right and as the key civic component of social capital. To date, cross-national research relies on the stan...
573 citations
Book•
16 Feb 2006TL;DR: Hymans as mentioned in this paper found that the key to this surprising historical pattern lies not in externally imposed constraints, but rather in state leaders' conceptions of the national identity, and built a rigorous model of decisionmaking that links identity to emotions and ultimately to nuclear policy choices.
Abstract: Dozens of states have long been capable of acquiring nuclear weapons, yet only a few have actually done so. Jacques E. C. Hymans finds that the key to this surprising historical pattern lies not in externally imposed constraints, but rather in state leaders' conceptions of the national identity. Synthesizing a wide range of scholarship from the humanities and social sciences to experimental psychology and neuroscience, Hymans builds a rigorous model of decisionmaking that links identity to emotions and ultimately to nuclear policy choices. Exhaustively researched case studies of France, India, Argentina, and Australia - two that got the bomb and two that abstained - demonstrate the value of this model while debunking common myths. This book will be invaluable to policymakers and concerned citizens who are frustrated with the frequent misjudgments of states' nuclear ambitions, and to scholars who seek a better understanding of how leaders make big foreign policy decisions.
229 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a heavy duty pitched truss comprises upper and lower chords interconnected by a lacing of link members, and a ridge connector is formed in two pieces each comprising a bearing support, securing means for securing the bearing support on the end of one of the upper chord sections.
Abstract: A heavy duty pitched truss comprises upper and lower chords interconnected by a lacing of link members. The pitched upper chord is formed in two end-to-end sections interconnected by a ridge connector. The ridge connector is formed in two pieces each comprising a bearing support, securing means for securing the bearing support on the end of one of the upper chord sections, and concavely arcuate and convexly arcuate bearing members projecting outwardly from the support and laterally offset from each other. The convexly arcuate bearing member of one piece overlaps the like member of the companion piece, both being in mating, bearing engagement with the concavely arcuate members of the respective pieces. A suitable connector such as a pivot pin interconnects the two overlapped bearing members. In this manner the stresses applied to the truss are transferred to the truss members through bearing areas of substantial magnitude.
199 citations
TL;DR: In the history of technological development, why didn't other regions keep up with Europe? This is an important question, as one learns almost as much from failure as from success as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the history of technological development, why didn't other regions keep up with Europe? This is an important question, as one learns almost as much from failure as from success. The one civilization that was in a position to match and even anticipate the European achievement was China. China had two chances: first, to generate a continuing, self-sustaining process of scientific and technological advance on the basis of its indigenous traditions and achievements; and second, to learn from European science and technology once the foreign "barbarians" entered the Chinese domain in the sixteenth century. China failed both times. What explains the first failure? I stress the role of the market: the fact that enterprise was free in Europe while China lacked a free market and institutionalized property rights; that in Europe innovation worked and paid, while the Chinese state was always stepping in to interfere with private enterprise. As for the second failure, China's cultural triumphalism combined with petty downward tyranny made it a singularly bad learner.
162 citations