Sir Granville Beynon

During my active career as the head of the Max-Planck-Institute for Aeronomy, I had many occasions of a most fruitful cooperation with Sir Granville Beynon. I remember three of them especially well.     

Sir Granville Beynon and EISCAT

Sir Granville Beynon worked increasingly to enable the European Incoherent Scatter Observatory, EISCAT, to be established in Northern Scandinavia. Here, some specific recollections are brought to mind before they are forgotten.     

Sir Granville Beynon and international science

Sir Granville Beynon is a towering figure on the world stage of science and engineering. He has personally assisted developing countries, of which India was a particularly fortunate one, to train their young workers in the methods of research and to introduce new experimental techniques. Special mention is made here of his support for radio science in India and for his influential contributions to URSI, to the IGY (AGI in French), the IQSY and the MAP.     

Preliminary results from the URSI/IAGA cooperative tidal observations program (CTOP)

This paper presents an overview of the results of the first three intervals of the Cooperative Tidal Observation Program (CTOP). The program has been undertaken as a collaborative effort by the incoherent scatter radar network, and the Global Radio Meteor Wind Studies Project (GRMWSP) under joint URSI/IAGA sponsorship to provide input to global models of the atmospheric circulation in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The data contributing to this overview are published in detail in nine companion papers in this issue.     

班克斯爵士与中国

班克斯爵士(Sir Joseph Banks,1743-1820)何许人也?熟悉英国近代科学史的人一定知道,从1778年开始到辞世四十多个寒暑间,他一直出任英国最高学术机构皇家学会(Royal Society)的主席,此时段也标志着从18世纪的"品鉴赏玩"之风到19世纪"格物致知"的科学态度的过渡.     

Sir Edward Grey and Austria-Hungary

ABSTRACT

Although in terms of their bilateral relations the ‘traditional friendship’ between Great Britain and Austria-Hungary was no mere phrase, in general political terms British policy in the last decade before the War was characterised by Grey's determination to cultivate the ententes with France and Russia and to do nothing to upset that division of Europe into two balancing groups (with Austria-Hungary firmly in the German camp) which he saw as the best guarantee of peace. Even though the Austrians gradually recovered from the shock of the Bosnian Crisis, in which Grey had come forward against them as Russia's chief supporter, and though the British for their part came to see in Austria-Hungary a useful element of stability in the Near East, Grey's attempts to uphold the unity of the Concert in the Balkan Wars were in the end vitiated by his overriding concern to avoid offending his Entente partners. Indeed, as the crisis deepened in the last year of peace, he took refuge in an increasingly abstentionist attitude, the objective effect of which - and herein, it is here argued, lies Grey's responsibility - was to intensify Vienna's desperation and loss of faith in the Concert that soon proved fatal to peace.     

Sir Ivor Jennings and the Malayan Constitution

This article examines the role of the British jurist, Sir Ivor Jennings, in the drafting of the Malayan independence constitution. Jennings was part of a five-man constitutional commission appointed in 1956 and led by the Scottish lord of appeal, Lord Reid. Unlike other such commissions, but at the request of Malaya's chief minister, its members were selected from a range of Commonwealth countries. The article discusses the principles which shaped the final document as well as the process of drafting, and argues that, while the constitution was the collective effort of five distinguished lawyers, Jennings' contributions were significantly greater. His working papers on governance served as the basis for the commission's discussion and his influence is most discernible in the provisions relating to the distribution of legislative and financial powers between the federal government and the states and in the section on fundamental liberties. This article concludes that Jennings not only provided the intellectual leadership for the Reid Commission but was also the master draftsman of the new constitution.     

斯坦因与吉尔吉特写本--纪念吉尔吉特写本发现七十周年

1931年吉尔吉特写本的发现是继敦煌写本发现后亚洲佛教考古史上的重要事件之一。自从吉尔吉特写本发现以来,国际学术界虽然对其内容的研究日臻完善,但对其发现、出土的过程仍缺乏足够的了解。英国考古学家斯坦因是第一个关注吉尔吉特写本的学。他在进行第四次中亚考察期间。在吉尔吉特写本出土后不久。于1931年6月16日至6月22日间逗留吉尔吉特,其间对这次发现进行了全面的调查和记录,并首次将这一发现通过报刊公之于欧洲学术界。本从亚洲考古学史的角度出发。对英国牛津大学包德利图书馆等机构藏斯坦因考古日记、书信件等原始档案资料检查一遍。将其中与吉尔吉特写本的出土发现有关的资料加以整理,按照时间顺序公布于此,旨在为吉尔吉特写本研究提供一些背景材料,主要涉及到吉尔吉特写本的出土地点、出土时间以及吉尔吉特写本在发现之初的转手经过。