The Man Who Loved China LP: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom

---

---

Editorial reviews

Product Description

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.

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 of what makes men, nations, and, indeed, mankind itself great—by one of the world’s inimitable storytellers.

---

Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-08-29 rating:
China Returns in a Big Way
This well researched and very readable book describes Joseph Needham's quest to show the inventiveness of the Chinese people by documenting in detail their early inventions, many made centuries before their reinvention by Europeans. The number and breadth is nothing short of astonishing. It puts to rest the ridiculous claim by some western politicians that invention can only occur in a free society. One of the themes is the big question still not satisfactorily answered. How, after centuries of extraordinary inventiveness, did it all suddenly stop sometime in the middle of the 15th century? Maybe the question now should be; How quickly will China resume its well documented capacity to invent? He describes a large sign at the Jiuquan space center that says in large letters "Without Haste. Without Fear. We Conquer the World"

This book is a must read for anyone interested in China.



review by: date: 2008-07-14 rating:
Winchester continues to please
Another book well done by Simon Winchester. The large-print version was a joy to read.

---

Similar products

The River at the Center of the World, Revised: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time
The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
The Post-American World
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

---

Similar categories

Books . Subjects . Biographies & Memoirs . Historical . General
Books . Subjects . Biographies & Memoirs . Historical . General AAS
Books . Subjects . Biographies & Memoirs . Professionals & Academics . Scientists
Books . Subjects . Biographies & Memoirs . General
Books . Subjects . Biographies & Memoirs . General AAS
Books . Subjects . History . Asia . China . General
Books . Subjects . History . Asia . China . General AAS
Books . Subjects . Science . History & Philosophy . History of Science
Books . Refinements . Binding (binding) . Large Print
Books . Refinements . Binding (binding) . Paperback
Books . Refinements . Format (feature_browse-bin) . Printed Books

---