Acknowledgments Over the course of researching and writing this book, I have acquired an enormous number of debts. I am afraid I will never be able to repay them beyond these heartfelt acknowledgments. At the University of California, San Diego First I thank my Ph.D. advisers, Joseph Esherick and Paul Pickowicz. Whether in the stacks with Joe or reviewing a paper “line by line” with Paul, I was always certain I was receiving the best education imaginable. They spared no effort in creating the remarkably vibrant and supportive intellectual community that is the graduate program in modern Chinese history at the University of California, San Diego. My other three committee members each deserve a spe- cial thanks. Marta Hanson was a vital link between Chinese studies and science studies; her energy and breadth of knowledge made her a constant source of new ideas and inspiration. Martha Lampland provided much important feedback on critical aspects of my work, including anthro- pology, science in socialist contexts, and fieldwork practices. Naomi Oreskes always put her finger on the crucial prob- lems, but never made me feel foolish for not having seen them myself. For their contibutions I also thank Suzanne Cahill, Tak Fujitani, Adrian Johns, Susan Leigh Star, Stefan Tanaka, Robert Westman, and Bin Wong (University of Cali fornia, Irvine). Among my many helpful student colleagues, I would xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS especially like to acknowledge Jeremy Brown, Susan Fernsebner, Christian Hess, Matthew Johnson, Liu Lu, Sarah Malena, Cecily McCaffrey, Elena Songster, Donald Wallace, and Adam Warren. They read my papers, offered much-needed advice, and were wonderful friends and colleagues. For research assistance throughout graduate school, I am indebted to Ye Wa. Her helpfulness with Chinese-language documents and her knowl- edge of everything from agriculture to archaeology provided advantages I wish I could have taken with me to Massachusetts. I am also grateful for the help of UCSD librarians Jim Cheng and Richard Wang, and the interlibrary loan department; they put a world of resources at my fingertips. Mary Allen, Ivonne Avila, Betty Gunderson, Carol Larkin, and Julie Scales helped me out of administrative scrapes. In China I am tremendously fortunate to have spent a year as the guest of that truly cosmopolitan place, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. At IVPP, Liú Wǔ patiently wrote three letters of invi- tation in order to satisfy visa requirements before he had even met me. Once I arrived in Běijīng, he made me feel completely welcome at the institute and facilitated my research. Also at IVPP, Gāo Xīng, Wú Xīnzhì, and Zhāng Mímàn took time out of their busy schedules for several interviews in addition to helping with logistics. The following scien- tists, technicians, artists, and museum workers at IVPP offered interviews and sometimes materials as well: Cài Bíngxī, Chén Zǔyín, Duàn Shūqín, Guó Jiànwēi, Hóu Yāméi, Fù Huálíng, Huáng Wànbō, Huáng Wèi wén, Lǐ Chāo róng, Lǐ Róngshān, Lín Shènglóng, Liú Shífān, Lù Qìng wǔ, Qí Guó qín, Shěn Wénlóng, Tóng Hàowén, Wáng Shùqín, Wèi Qí, Wú Mào­ lín, Xú Qīnqí, Xǔ Xiǎopíng, Yàn Défā, Yuán Zhènxīn, Yóu Yùzhù, Zhāng Lìfēn, Zhāng Sēnshuǐ, and Zhào Zhōngyì. Jiǎ Yǔzhāng, the son of Jiǎ Lán pō, was very generous in sharing his father’s files. Péi Shēn, son of Péi Wén zhōng, offered helpful reminiscences. Fèng Xiǎobō, now of Hú běi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, dropped everything to travel to the heart of Shēnnóngjià with me. I am also grateful to the library and archive staff at IVPP, including Cáo Yíng and Wǔ Lǐliū, and finally to the graduate students Shàng Hóng and Wú Xiùjiě for their friendship and helpfulness. Zhōu Guóxīng of the Natural History Museum in Běijīng deserves special thanks for his consistent willingness to help. I am also grateful to the following people in Běijīng for granting interviews and providing materials: Zhāng Fēng at the Agricultural Science and Technology Press, xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Jiǎ Zǐwén and Wáng Huìméi at the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, Yán Shí at the Popular Science Press, Léi Qǐhóng and Shí Shùnkē at the Chinese Research Institute for Science Popularization, and Wáng Fāngchén of the Strange and Rare Animals Exploration and Inves- tigation Committee. Zhāng Jiǔchén and Zhāng Lí of the Institute for the History of Natural Science took time to introduce me to the institute and share insights and resources. Also in Běijīng, Zhào Chāo and Wáng Yànxiá’s family helped with logis- tics. Yun-chiahn Chen, Kate Lingley, Elena Songster, Suzanne Thomas, Lisa Tran, and Yáng Yáng and her family provided much friendship and assistance of all kinds. Zhāng Xiàoyán transcribed many interviews beautifully at a special rate. Many others outside Běijīng also provided interviews and guided tours of important sites. I thank Jīn Lì, Chén Chún, and Lǐ Huī of Fùdàn University; Gāo Qiáng of the Bànpō Neolithic Museum in Xī’ān; Lán Jiàn and Liú Ruìqiáng in Lántián; Jiāng Yǒng, Lí Guóhuá, Rǎn Chāo, Shàng Chángchūn, Yuán Yùháo, and Zhāng Jīnxīng in Shénnóngjià; Lǐ Ài píng, Mín Zé, and Yè Miáo in Wǔhàn; Liú Wén and Luó Ānhú of the Liǔ zhōu Museum; Gāo Fēng and Jí Xuépíng of the Archaeological Insti- tute in Kūnmíng; Mǎ Wéndǒu of the Yúnnán Provincial Museum; Jiāng Chū, Yáng Qīng, and Yáng Shàoxiáng of the Yuánmóu Man Exhibition Hall; Lǐ Zì xiù in Yuánmóu; Lǐ Xùwén, Lǐ Hóngjiǔ, Tián Xiǎowén, and Yáng Xī in Lìjiāng; Chén Wēngliáng and Xú Yǒngqìng at the Shànghǎi Natural History Museum; and Táo Yǔnhàn at the Shànghǎi Science and Technology Museum. Finally, I thank the fifty-four people who completed surveys and wrote letters detailing their experiences as readers of Fossils magazine and as hobbyists. Of those, the following gave permission to mention them by name: Huáng Déxiāng, Jiāng Chénguāng, Léi Xiǎo, Lǐ Chūnyuán, Lǐ Hóuwén, Lǐ Xiùcǎi, Liú Bìfēn, Liú Yǒng, Shàn Yuánshēng, Shěn Ēnhuá, Sūn Qīngmín, Yuán Zhìyì, and Zhào Shān. At the University of Massachusetts, Amherst I could not have landed better than I have at the University of Massachu- setts, where the history faculty has been immensely supportive—from the moment they appealed to the dean to add a special position for me to this semester, when they granted a leave from teaching and service so I could finish the book. For their advice, encouragement, and support, I am especially grateful to Audrey Altstadt, Chris Appy, Anne Broad- bridge, Richard Chu, Alvin Cohen (Asian Languages and Literatures), xiii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dick Minear, Brian Ogilvie, Larry Owens, Steve Platt, and Heather Cox Richardson. I thank the Five-College Science Studies group—especially Jeffrey Ramsey and Mike Dietrich—for taking time to read and discuss chapter 8. In the library, Sharon Domier, Jim Kelly, and the interlibrary loan staff have all leapt to help at a moment’s notice. A Faculty Research Grant supported a month of follow-up interviewing in 2005. At Wesleyan University Returning to the Connecticut River Valley has allowed me to reconnect with my roots at Wesleyan, where I spent four (noncontiguous) years of excitement and delight that instilled in me a desire to remain on college campuses for the rest of my life. My thesis advisers, Vera Schwarcz and Sue Fisher, devoted much time to guiding my studies and offered me a great deal of encouragement along the way. With their help, I began to participate in the long process of bridging the fields of Chinese studies and science studies. Bill Johnston was another important source of inspi- ration, and Steve Angle invited me back in 2005 to talk at the beloved Freeman Center. Finally, Joe Rouse recently offered a gentle criticism that made a subtle but great difference in the finished book. At the University of Chicago Press Since Pete Beatty first found my proposal on his desk and promptly sent me a warm and professional response, Chicago has treated me like roy- alty. I am deeply indebted to Pete, Catherine Rice, Christie Henry, and, most important, Karen Darling for their tag-team support. Erik Carlson patiently answered many questions and corrected many errors of gram- mar and style, a task made more difficult by the cumbersome fonts. Chuck Hayford, Fan-ti Fan, and one anonymous reader offered very generous and helpfully critical comments on the submitted draft. David Goodrich of Birdtrack Press is responsible for the beautiful typesetting job. And Beyond . Richard Kutner gave me early lessons in time management. For help- ing kindle my interest in China, I thank Morris Rossabi. David Bran- ner introduced me to classical Chinese and insisted on the use of tone marks in pīnyīn. Ann Waltner included me in her renowned classical Chinese reading group. Charlotte Furth offered much useful advice and suggested I apply to UCSD. xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dennis Etler introduced me to IVPP and shared seven hours of taped interviews with Jiǎ Lánpō. Alice Conklin, Fa-ti Fan, Amy Hwei-shuan Feng, Laiguo Long, Barry Sautman, Wen-ching Sung, and Nadine Weidman generously shared unpublished work. Michael Schoenhals swallowed his disgust at the egregious imperialist behavior of my homeland and shared his extraordinary knowledge of Cultural Revolution documents to help me improve chapter 5. Laurence Schneider thoughtfully read the entire manuscript and provided many useful comments on content and style. For their helpful suggestions, I thank David DeGusta, Ingrid Fryklund, Mark Lewis, Perry Link, Nakayama Shigeru, Jesse Richmond, Jessica Riskin, Grace Shen, Steve Smith, Matthew Sommer, Sharon Traweek, Fred Wakeman, and Kären Wigen. I greatly appreciate the assistance of librarians at Stanford, Yale, and the University of California, Berkeley. The librarians at Harvard-Yenching, especially James Cheng, Nobuhiko Abe, Matthew Bilder, and Eiji Kuge, deserve a special thanks for their tolerance of my voluminous requests.