Book Review: The Man Who Loved China
With the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics just days away, I am looking forward to learning more about China. Hopefully, we will get some human interest stories and documentaries about China in between the sporting events on television.
In case the TV studios shy away from anything more “political” (meaning anything which might be seen as controversial), today I will look at two new books on China which have made my reading list.
“The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom” by Simon Winchester portrays Joseph Needham (1900-1995) a British scientist and Sinologist who formulated the “Needham question:” Why did the country fail to industrialize when Europe did, despite its prior achievements. Needham pursued this question most of his life and predicted a grand future for China based on its past successes. The book is a good introduction into Chinese history as well as a portrait of an eccentric researcher.
Image from memory.loc.gov
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POSTED IN: BRIC, Books, Customs and Culture, china
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