The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom
by: Simon Winchester
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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.
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.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Wonderfully enlightening.
what a great person to learn about and be remembers for his vision, commitment, and integrity. we need more like him today
Rating: - "In a nutshell...."
There is little point in being redundant by parroting all of the complimentary remarks regarding this well-written book. It suffices to say, it is a "must read" work by those interested in China, especially those who are drawn to the history of science. There is only one additional point regarding the sixteenth century watershed that needs to be given some consideration: Agricultural advancements in the introduction of then-new foodstuffs (such as yams) into the diets of peoples throughout the world ... Read More
Rating: 
- Biography of a flawed intellectual, with little about China
I bought this book hoping to find out something about China, especially Chinese history. But the book contained very little about China; instead, I found the biography of an egomaniac whose scholarly work belies his inability to have any common sense in his daily life.
We hear of his journeys through China to seek for their historical knowledge, but we never see China itself.
We are told of all the times his car broke down, but except for Needham's annoyance, we don't learn ... Read More
Rating: 
- A colorful life
The book is quite thorough in going through the highlights of Needham's interesting career and personality. There is too much attention paid to his randiness and not enough to his process of editing the vast amount of material he collected. I doubt he will be remembered for how many women he slept with.
We are told that he assembled a vast library of unique and obscure sources that laid out the scope of early Chinese technology and innovation.How he waded through it seems to be either unimportant ... Read More
Rating: - a formula book
The problem with this book is that Simon Winchester is grinding them out of the "mill" now. When an author produces books beyond a certain rate, they tend to become formulaic and by-the-numbers. Everything that was fresh in "the professor and the madman" has become a stale formula in this book. Its all assembly-line craft and no passion.
If you have never read one of his books, I would recommend it. Its not his best, but its respectable. But otherwise.....We don't need any more formula books about ... Read More
- Wonderfully enlightening.what a great person to learn about and be remembers for his vision, commitment, and integrity. we need more like him today
- "In a nutshell...."There is little point in being redundant by parroting all of the complimentary remarks regarding this well-written book. It suffices to say, it is a "must read" work by those interested in China, especially those who are drawn to the history of science. There is only one additional point regarding the sixteenth century watershed that needs to be given some consideration: Agricultural advancements in the introduction of then-new foodstuffs (such as yams) into the diets of peoples throughout the world ... Read More
- Biography of a flawed intellectual, with little about ChinaI bought this book hoping to find out something about China, especially Chinese history. But the book contained very little about China; instead, I found the biography of an egomaniac whose scholarly work belies his inability to have any common sense in his daily life.
We hear of his journeys through China to seek for their historical knowledge, but we never see China itself.
We are told of all the times his car broke down, but except for Needham's annoyance, we don't learn ... Read More
- A colorful lifeThe book is quite thorough in going through the highlights of Needham's interesting career and personality. There is too much attention paid to his randiness and not enough to his process of editing the vast amount of material he collected. I doubt he will be remembered for how many women he slept with.
We are told that he assembled a vast library of unique and obscure sources that laid out the scope of early Chinese technology and innovation.How he waded through it seems to be either unimportant ... Read More
- a formula bookThe problem with this book is that Simon Winchester is grinding them out of the "mill" now. When an author produces books beyond a certain rate, they tend to become formulaic and by-the-numbers. Everything that was fresh in "the professor and the madman" has become a stale formula in this book. Its all assembly-line craft and no passion.
If you have never read one of his books, I would recommend it. Its not his best, but its respectable. But otherwise.....We don't need any more formula books about ... Read More
