• Asian review of World Histories
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.85-116
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• 2013

The theory of terrestrial impact which has been developed by the astronomy scientists since 1970s is employed for this article in a new angle that atmospheric conditions of our planet should be adopted in the interpretation of the history of mankind. Large and small terrestrial impacts must be acknowledged as key tasks in terms of the study of 'world history'. The Society of Interdisciplinary Studies has already advocated that the 'Bronze Age Civilization' was strongly influenced by the long term terrestrial impact phenomena. Based on historical materials from Korea, the present study was able to identify the years 680-880, 1100-1220, 1340-1420, and 1490-1760 as periods in which territorial impacts occurred.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.1-49
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• 2019

First proposed by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000, the concept of the Anthropocene has had staggering repercussions in a variety of disciplines. In response to the Anthropocene narrative as a problematization of the eco-ontological emergency that humanity is confronted with in the 21st-century, I will deal with the following theoretical themes in this article. Firstly, I will analyze the central agendas underlying the Anthropocene discourse: the expansion of human agency into the planetary level and the possibility of unprecedented catastrophes in the near future. Secondly, I will propose to address the Anthropocene discourse as problem-assemblage. Thirdly, I will examine Clive Himilton and Dipesh Chakrabarty's theses in order to understand the shock that was brought to bear on the humanities and social sciences by the Anthropocene narrative. Fourthly, I will reinterpret the allegory of the angel appearing in Benjamin's Theses on the Philosophy of History to explore new possibilities of transformative becoming of the subjectivity, focusing on the concept of patiency. Finally, I will present the concept of reflexive catastrophism.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.635-646
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• 2000

Geological achievements of the 20th century revolutionized our views about geological understanding and concept. A good example is the concept of continental drift suggested early in the 20th century and later explained in terms of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. Our understanding of the compositions of materials forming earth has also improved during the20th century. Radio and stable isotopes together with biostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy allow us to interpret the evolution of sedimentary basins in terms of plate movement and sedimentation processes. The Deep Sea Drilling Project initiated in 1960s and continued as the Ocean Drilling Project in 1980s is one of the most successful international research observations, and new developments in computational techniques have provided a wholly new view about the interior of the earth. Most of the geological features and phenomena observed in deep sea and around continental margins are now explained in terms of global tectonic processes such as superplumes flowing up from the interior of our planet and interacting with such as Rodinia Pannotia and Nena back in the Precambrian time. The space explorations which began in the late 1950s opened up a new path to astrogeology, astrobiology, and astropaleontology. The impact theory rooted in the discovery of iridium and associated phenomena in 1980s revived Cuvier's catastrophism as a possible explanation for the extinctions of biotas found in the geological record of this planet. Due to the geological achievements made in the 20th century, we now have a better understanding of geologic times and processes that were too long to be grasped by human records.