I am in England, and I thought I would briefly comment on a book I am reading entitled The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist who unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom by Simon Winchester.  The book is about Joseph Needham, the brilliant and eccentric British scientist, who starting in 1943, began a quest to uncover the mysteries of ancient Chinese science and technology.  Winchester’s book about Needham, like his previous books such as The Crack in the Edge of the World, Krakatoa, or The Map that Changed the World, is thrilling, and beautifully written. As one interested in  history, this a wonderful book to be reading while I am in England.  Needham visited China on several occasions, the first in 1943 and it was this visit that formed the foundation for his future research and writing of seven volumes of Science and Civilization in China.  But his writing and research was done in Caius College, Cambridge, England, and it feels right to be reading Winchester’s book here in England.

Needham uncovered for the world the nature and history of science in China.  For a science teacher this book will provide many examples of “Chinese inventions and discoveries” which superseded parallel discoveries in the West.  Appendex I lists nearly 300 of these inventions and discoveries, such as the Abacus (AD 190), Compass used for navigation (AD 1111), gunpowder (9th Century AD), and so forth.  

But the book is not about one discovery after another.  It is a book about a brilliant scientist who fell in love with China, and decided to find out about Chinese science, its people and culture.  It is a book about Joseph Needham, a world famous scientist before he went to China in the midst of the Japanese invasion of China as a British diplomat in charge of seeking out and supporting Chinese scientists.  

In the next several posts, I’ll talk about the book, and about Needham and China.