Beijing will for the first time host the international congress of science history from July 24 to 30.

Liu Dun, vice executive president of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science's Division of History of Science, said Friday at a press conference that only five cities outside Europe have ever held such a congress.

"Science is always regarded as originating from the Western culture and the non-Western origins of science are always ignored," said Liu, who also heads the Institute of History of Natural Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Liu said he hopes those non-Western features of science history would be shown at the coming 22nd International Congress of History of Science, with a theme of "Globalization and Diversity: Diffusion of Science and Technology throughout History".

Some plenary lectures will show such diversity, including "Transmission of Islamic Exact Science to India and its Neighbors and Repercussions Thereof" by Razaullah Ansari of India, "Moral and Political Significance of Nature in Ancient China" by Sun Xiaochun of China, and "The Development of the Number System in Mathematics in Ancient Iraq" by Khalid Salim Ismael of Iraq.

"Closer studies about the history of science in China will help enrich the Chinese culture," Liu said.

The congress will organize several work meetings, 36 scientific sections, 62 symposia and two public lectures. More than 1,000 scholars around the world are expected to take part in the congress.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2005)