Project description
Mapping the global origins of Enlightenment science
The development of science during the Enlightenment era has been historically understood to occur primarily in Europe, without considering any facts or theories that may have emerged elsewhere. Supported by the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions programme, the Evi-ShapEarth project focusses on how ideas about the shape of Earth in the 18th century travelled. Specifically, it explores the contribution made by geographic and astronomical observations made in China as a part of the Kangxi imperial land surveys and disseminated to Europe via Jesuit missionaries. The goal is to map the movement of knowledge throughout Eurasia. The findings shed light on its evolution under the influence of the European scientific and political landscape.
Objective
This project rewrites the history of one of the most celebrated scientific disputes of the Enlightenment: the eighteenth-century controversy over the shape of the Earth. By restoring the neglected role of evidence derived from the Kangxi imperial land surveys, transmitted through Jesuit missionaries, the project reframes the debate for the first time from a Eurasian perspective. The research examines how Jesuit astronomical observations and geographical measurements, originally co-produced with local participants both as part of their scientific missions in China and for Qing imperial cartography, travelled across continents, entered European scholarly networks, and were eventually weaponised as powerful evidence in the controversy over the shape of the Earth. Breaking with the conventional one-way narrative of knowledge transfer from Europe to China, the project reconstructs the reverse trajectory. It traces the movement of Jesuit-mediated sources from China through intellectual, institutional, political-religious, and cultural contexts before they resurfaced in European publications, maps, and controversies. Based on multilingual Eurasian archival materials, the study shows how non-European information was reframed, authenticated, or strategically altered in order to become European evidence. Combining close historical analysis with digital methods, the project delivers two types of outcomes. First, it generates scholarly publications that situate the Earth-shape debate within a global chain of evidence, challenging entrenched Eurocentric accounts of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment science. Second, it creates an open-access digital resource that visualises these transcontinental flows of information/evidence, offers a transferable model for studying global trajectories of knowledge, and engages wider audiences through public talks, exhibitions, and online platforms.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences physical geography cartography
- social sciences political sciences political transitions revolutions
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3000 Leuven
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.