The Man Who Loved China

By: Simon Winchester

Narrated by: Simon Winchester

In sumptuous and illuminating detail, Simon Winchester, the best-selling 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, 17 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.

©2008 Simon Winchester (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

turn your watch back 70 years

Turn your watch back 70 years and let Simon Winchester guide your mind through Joseph Needman's life and times. Beyond his work in China, Winchester brings you up close to all of the unique and interesting aspects of Needam. Beyond the wonderful way Winchester writes, the English accent is just great.

A MASTERPIECE!

I would give this 10 stars if I could. I have read three other books by Winchester and was honestly rather disappointed with them. But in this work, he has exceeded all his other efforts put together. I was transported into Joseph Needham's world of Cambridge in the first half of the twentieth century. This brilliant man reached the pinnacle of achievement in science, languages, and history. After a remarkable career in biochemistry, he switched to the history of science in China in his late thirties. He not only mastered the Chinese language, but became the world authority on the history of science in China. He recognized that the Chinese were often far ahead of the rest of the world in science. His objective was to write "a" book about the topic, but it soon grew to some 17 major volumes that took 5 decades of his life to complete.
I relished every word of this wonderful work and can't imagine anyone who wouldn't be equally enthralled by this tale. An absolute winner.

Wonderful

Simon Winchester is the great story teller of our time. Having him actually tell you the story as he wanted it told makes it even better.

Overwhelming life story presented accessibly

Totally enlightening glimpse into the life of a fascinating man, tied in nicely with commentary on the actual subject matter if his academic pursuits.

a great story

all the more fascinating as it's true. a story spanning half a century and half the world.

Always a Joy

Winchester does fantastic deep, narrative dives. This is no exception, as I learned more about Chinese history and culture, tech, and politics in academia than I would have expected in what is a purported biography. Well done, as always.

Endless detail, too little story

What did you like best about The Man Who Loved China? What did you like least?

I liked the subject matter of Needham's fascination with China and his adventures in that country, but the story got lost under the mountain of unnecessary facts.

Have you listened to any of Simon Winchester’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. But I've read other books and enjoyed them. He always includes a lot of detail, but in other works, those details don't overwhelm the story the way they did in this book.

Gripping and Engaging Book

I knew I had to learn more about Neeham after listening to the Google Talk by Simon Winchester. I felt great admiration for Joesph Needham's accomplishments and envied his travels throughout China gathering knowledge about the culture and science, but I did not like the man Needham and felt he was greatly flawed as a person.

Joseph Needhan was brilliant, eccentric, and privileged beyond belief. Needham passed away in 1995 at the age of 94, but his legacy survives through the Needham Research Institute.

Needham was one of the most eminent scholars of the twentieth century, and he was responsible for bringing China's immense contributions to science and technology to the notice of Western historians and scientists. He was also a well-known biochemist and political activist with a checkered personal life.

He had an "open marriage" with his wife Dorothy. At Cambridge in 1937, Needham met Lu Gwei-djen, a promising young biochemist from Shanghai. She became Needham's mistress - a relationship that lasted all their lives. Lu roused his scholarly interest in China and he became fascinated. He even learned to read and write Chinese. When the British Council sent him on a mission to Chungking, he quickly realized that China has a remarkable scientific tradition that was completely unknown in the West, and that bringing it to the attention of a Western audience would be his life's work.

Truely excellent story of Joseph Needham

Great biography of Joseph Needham. Read before you read anything else about China's recent history.

A real eye opening experience

The writing and performance were outstanding, but what made this book truly stand out for me was how much I learned that I had no clue about before I picked it up—or rather started listening.