Author Description

in Sumptuous And Illuminating Detail Simon Winchester Chronicles The Extraordinary Story Of Joseph Needham, The Brilliant Cambridge Scientist Who Turned His Eccentric Genius On The Study Of China. in 1937 Joseph Needham Fell In Love With A Visiting Chinese Student. He Soon Became Fascinated By China, And His Mistress Persuaded Him To Travel To Her Home Country. Thus Began His Undying Passion For The World’s Most Populous Nation. needham Tackled One Of The Great, Unanswered Historical Questions: Why Did A Nation That Had Invented So Much And Had Enjoyed 5,000 Years Of Flourishing Civilization, Fail To Undergo An Industrial Revolution, And Instead Spend So Many Modern Years Mired In Poverty And Racked By Instability And Revolution? By The Time He Died, Needham Had Produced Seventeen Immense Volumes On China, Marking Him As The Greatest One-man Encyclopaedist Ever. both Epic And Intimate, the Man Who Loved China Tells The Sweeping History Of China Through Needham's Remarkable Life. Here Is An Unforgettable Tale By One Of The World's Inimitable Storytellers. the Washington Post - Judith Shapiro in the Man Who Loved China, Simon Winchester, Author Of the Professor And The Madman, Builds On His Success In Writing About Eccentric British Intellectuals. Needham Makes A Great Subject. A Cambridge University Polymath Who Made His Youthful Mark As A Biochemist, He Was Also A Nudist, A Performer Of English Folk Dances Involving Ankle Bells And Sticks, An Accordion Player And An Active Communist…in Retelling Needham's Story, Winchester Focuses On The Inventiveness Of The Chinese People, Whose Creativity Once Surpassed That Of All Other Civilizations. If This Resourcefulness Can Be Renewed And Harnessed In The Service Of Sustainability, Then Perhaps There Is Hope Not Only For China But For The Planet.