This biography of Joseph Needham, a man Id never even heard of before, was truly fascinating. Born in 1900 in England, he was a brilliant scientist, an eccentric, and passionate student of Chinese history. His intense love of China began with his Chinese mistress and developed into the most expansive study of Chinese history ever undertaken. He set out to prove that the Chinese really were the first people to develop many of the scientific processes and inventions claimed by Western inventors over the years, inventions like the stirrup, the compass, toilet paper, and the suspension bridge.

The result of his lifetime of work is a monumental, 26-volume book entitled Science and Civilization in China, parts of which have yet to be published.

You can read my entire review here

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