The Man Who Loved China - book

The Man Who Loved China, by Simon Winchester (Harper Collins Publishers, 2008)

I have always thought that on a per capita basis Britain produces more genuine eccentrics than any other country. I still think so. In any case, the subject of this book, Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, certainly qualifies. A distinguished Cambridge Professor of Biology at an unusually young age, Joseph Needham was also (like several British scholars of his time) a socialist/communist free-thinker, who was also engaged in a “modern marriage” to a somewhat older woman who was also a distinguished scientist, while at the same time openly maintaining a lovely Chinese mistress, also a scientist, in a comfortable ménage a trois, and at the same time remained an unabashed promiscuous lover of women wherever found (in spite of his apparent heightened heterosexuality he was an early defender of Gays). He was also a gymnosophist (I didn’t know what it was either, look it up). But Joseph Needham was also a brilliant scientist who by age 31 published his three-volume book, Chemical Embryology, that established his reputation as an unusually serious and gifted scholar. He also was fluent in seven languages, including Polish, and was working on Mandarin Chinese, being tutored at first by his Lover who was also responsible for creating his abiding interest in China.

This is an absolutely fascinating book, partly because of the eccentric Needham and some of the other characters he encountered in China, but also because of what he was to discover there. Needham was flown into China (with some difficulty) in 1943 as an official representative of the British government. This was, of course, at the height of the Chinese/Japanese war. His instructions were to aid Chinese scientists in any way he could, learn as much as he could about the situation and the Chinese, and also try to promote British/Chinese relations. He obviously had been picked for this task because he was capable in the Chinese language as well as being a distinguished scientist. During his four years in China he traveled widely, even into the most remote areas of the country, and collected massive amounts of data on Chinese history and science, including many ancient texts on a virtually infinite number of subjects. Many if not most of the important Chinese scientists were forced to take refuge in the hinterlands and suffered from a lack of scientific equipment and other supplies. Needham had the authority to order their much-needed supplies and have them flown in which was, of course, a boon for their scattered war industries.

Needham did fall in love with China, but it was what he learned about Chinese history and science that was to astound both him and the West. It had long been assumed, by the ethnocentric and paternalistic West that China was a more-or-less backward nation that had little in the way of science or technology and was far inferior to Europe on that score. It was true that at that time China did appear to be far behind the West, but Needham discovered that China had pioneered in science and technology far ahead of the West, having invented not only gunpowder, but hundreds of other important inventions sometimes a thousand years before they were known to Europe. These were not minor innovations and included the first printed book (AD 868, before Gutenberg), paddle-wheel ships and boats (AD 418), calipers (AD 9), cast iron (5th century BC), chess (4th century BC), coinage (9th century BC), magnetic needle compass (AD 1088), paper (300 BC), the stirrup (AD 300, a much more important innovation than you might think), and literally hundreds of other important things. The author presents a list of these various inventions and discoveries that runs to 11 pages.

When Needham returned to England he began work on his magnum opus, Science and Civilization in China, which eventually ran to more than 24 detailed volumes. This achievement has been compared to the creation of The Oxford English Dictionary and resulted in fame and awards galore. Needham fell into disgrace for a time because of his sympathy with the Chinese Communists. He was lured there and duped into agreeing that the U.S. had used biological warfare when they had not. Eventually it was revealed that he had been tricked by the Russians into believing something that was not so and thus regained his reputation. Needham was one of those unusual individuals with an interest in virtually everything. It was this scientific curiosity above and beyond his expertise in biology that allowed him to achieve this comprehensive history of all forms of science in China. There were a few critics who argued that he was not a trained historian nor was he truly an expert in all fields. His achievement was so massive these perhaps jealous claims eventually just fell by the wayside. There are some who will argue that he became such an enthusiastic sinologist that he may have exaggerated Chinese achievements. The data to prove his claims now occupies at least two rooms at Cambridge and as a resource has still not been exhausted.

There arose an obvious question: Why did China, who pioneered so much science and technology so early, seem to stop at about the 16th century, just about the same time it began to flourish in Europe? This became known as “Needham’s question,” and to this day there has been no completely satisfactory answer. It does appear, however, that after this long hiatus China is back once again in the forefront of scientific and technological discovery. It is well to consider carefully a giant sign at the entrance to the city of Jiuquan: “Without Haste. Without Fear. We Conquer the World.”

Simon Winchester has a genuine talent for writing fascinating books, such as The Professor and the Madman, Krakatoa, A Crack in the Edge of the World, and many others. This one is, I think, one of the best. I heartily recommend it.