Technology and ocean‐scape: Defining the deep sea in mid‐nineteenth century

The ocean's profound inaccessibility makes it impossible to comprehend except through the mediation of technology. The first investigators to explore the great depths were hydrographers whose work was animated by mid‐nineteenth century growth of political, economic, and cultural interest in the oceans. While submarine telegraphy certainly boosted ocean science, interest in this field derived first from commercial concerns related to whaling and shipping as well as the intellectual pursuits of physical geography and questions about the existence of life at great depths. Hydrographers’ developing conception of the oceanic environment never represented a clear translation from technology. Dramatic changes in the understanding of the shape of the deep‐sea floor testified to the complexity of interaction between sounding machines, methods, and interpretations of depth. The shifting image of the sea floor not only reflected increasingly accurate measurements, but also mirrored shifting human motivations for studying this unexplored territory.     

Embracing the Language of Human Rights: International Women's Organisations,Feminism and Campaigns Against the Marriage Bar,c.1919–1960

This article considers four international women's organisations – the International Council of Women, the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship, the International Federation of University Women and the Open Door International – and their campaigns for the right of married women to undertake paid work. It examines how each organisation adopted and engaged with the language of human rights in the late 1920s and 1930s. It is argued that after 1948, precisely because of its formal adoption by the UN, the language of human rights became less usable as a way to make the point that women still faced inequalities, and so other framings became more significant. This article contributes to historiographies on international women's organisations, offers a detailed discussion of their activism against the marriage bar, and challenges the conventional chronology of the concept and language of human rights.     

乾隆十三年再检讨——常平仓政策改革和国家利益权衡

本论文试图对乾隆十三年的米价大论战进行再检讨,指出朝廷将米价上涨归咎于常平仓储备的扩大并不一定与事实相符。1748年8月乾隆帝决定每省常平仓定额“应悉准康熙、雍正年间旧额”,亦非各省督抚一致同意的反映。而且,这一不加选择的命令之粗率也使读者怀疑朝廷可能另有用意。如果仔细阅读1749年1月建议将全国仓储总额定为3379万石的报告,不难发现其作者并不拒绝寻找机会节省资金。这些财政上的考虑很可能跟第一次金川战争不无关系。     

The Policy Analysis of Water Shortages

Allen V. Kneese and F. Lee Brown, The Southwest Under Stress .
Richard A. Berk, et al., Water Shortage .