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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionsThe Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdomby Simon Winchester
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In sumptuous and illuminating detail, Simon Winchester, the bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman ("Elegant and scrupulous"—New York Times Book Review) and Krakatoa ("A mesmerizing page-turner"—Time) brings to life the extraordinary story of Joseph Needham, the brilliant Cambridge scientist who unlocked the most closely held secrets of China, long the world's most technologically advanced country.
No cloistered don, this tall, married Englishman was a freethinking intellectual, who practiced nudism and was devoted to a quirky brand of folk dancing. In 1937, while working as a biochemist at Cambridge University, he instantly fell in love with a visiting Chinese student, with whom he began a lifelong affair. He soon became fascinated with China, and his mistress swiftly persuaded the ever-enthusiastic Needham to travel to her home country, where he embarked on a series of extraordinary expeditions to the farthest frontiers of this ancient empire. He searched everywhere for evidence to bolster his conviction that the Chinese were responsible for hundreds of mankind's most familiar innovations—including printing, the compass, explosives, suspension bridges, even toilet paper—often centuries before the rest of the world. His thrilling and dangerous journeys, vividly recreated by Winchester, took him across war-torn China to far-flung outposts, consolidating his deep admiration for the Chinese people. After the war, Needham was determined to tell the world what he had discovered, and began writing his majestic Science and Civilisation in China, describing the country's long and astonishing history of invention and technology. By the time he died, he had produced, essentially single-handedly, seventeen immense volumes, marking him as the greatest one-man encyclopedist ever. Both epic and intimate, The Man Who Loved China tells the sweeping story of China through Needham's remarkable life. Here is an unforgettable tale of what makes men, nations, and, indeed, mankind itself great—related by one of the world's inimitable storytellers. Review:"Joseph Needham (1900 — 1995) is the man who 'made China China,' forming the West's understanding of a sophisticated culture with his masterpiece, Science and Civilization in China, says bestselling author Winchester. In a life devoted to recording the Middle Kingdom's intellectual wealth, Needham, an eccentric, brilliant Cambridge don, made a remarkable journey from son of a London doctor through scientist-adventurer to red scare target. In Winchester's (The Professor and the Madman) estimable hands, Needham's story comes to life straightaway. From the biochemist's arrival in WWII Chongqing ('the smells, of incense smoke, car exhaust, hot cooking oil, a particularly acrid kind of pepper, human waste, oleander, and jasmine') to his steely discipline when crafting his research into prose (to an old friend: 'I am frightfully busy. You come without an appointment, so I am afraid I cannot see you'), Winchester plunges the reader into the action with hardly a break. As the author notes in an outstanding epilogue — a swirling 12-page trip through the kaleidoscope of contemporary China — he is at pains to place Needham front and center in our understanding of the nation that now plays such a huge role in American life. B&w photos, maps." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:"[T]he capacious life of an academic comes alive in Winchester's skilled, insightful portrait." Booklist
Review:"These are major questions superbly posed in an accessible and provocative book." Library Journal (Starred Review)
Review:"Another formidable, absorbing reading experience by versatile Winchester....Reflects its subject's passionate interests and makes scholarship positively sexy." Kirkus Reviews
Book News Annotation:This volume narrates the story of Joseph Needham (1900-1995), a British biochemist whose affair with a Chinese student visiting Cambridge U. led to a lifelong fascination with China and a strong appreciation for the contributions of the Chinese civilization to science and technology. The narrative describes Needham's travels across China during World War II and his writing of the 17 volumes of Science and Civilisation in China. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
VideoAbout the AuthorSimon Winchester is the acclaimed author of many books, including The Professor and the Madman, The Man Who Loved China, A Crack in the Edge of the World, and Krakatoa. Those books were New York Times bestsellers and appeared on numerous best and notable lists. In 2006, Mr. Winchester was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by her Majesty the Queen. He lives in Manhattan and in western Massachusetts.
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