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Tangential information serves biographer well
(by Jennifer Alexander - April 29, 2009)
Simon Winchester is known for the engrossing and surprising stories in his delightful histories.
Many readers first discovered Winchester in his 1998 book The Professor and the Madman, in which he wrote about the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and a schizophrenic murderer who was a major contributor to the project. Winchester has written about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in A Crack in the Edge of the World; the development of modern geology in The Map That Changed the World; and devastating volcanic eruptions in Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883.
Winchester’s style is conversational and lively. He packs an amazing amount of facts in anecdotes, footnotes and parenthetical comments. His brisk pace and informal approach are a winning combination. Readers close his books with the impression of having spent time with an enthusiastic and knowledgable companion.
His latest book, The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom, is as engaging and informative as his earlier works. The book introduces Joseph Needham, a British biochemist who developed a consuming fascination with China and wrote the multivolume series Science and Civilisation in China. The first volume of the series has never been out of print since its original publication in 1954. It has contributed much to Western understanding of China.
Needham’s dedication to the study of early scientific and technological inventions in China began with his romantic relationship with Chinese biochemist Lu Gwei-djen. He first became interested in the Chinese language and gradually became a student of Chinese science. Needham traveled to China in 1943 and continued to work on Science and Civilisation in China until his death in 1995.
What became known as the “Needham question” — the concept that inspired Needham’s extensive research and permeated his writing — was why modern science developed in Europe and the West despite the fact that the Chinese had made so many early technological advances. “Why was China unable to hold on to its early advantage and creative edge?…Why, by the 18th and 19th centuries, was China a nation known principally for being backward, hostile and poor?” Although Needham spent decades creating a history that demonstrates the creativity and inventiveness of the Chinese people, Winchester suggests that Needham never fully answered his central question.
The story of Joseph Needham is well suited to Winchester’s talent for illustrating unusual characters. Needham was not a typical Cambridge biochemist. He was alarmingly energetic in his enthusiasms, was an avid nudist and was curious about everything. He and his wife, fellow biochemist Dorothy Moyle, agreed that their marriage would not preclude other sexual relationships. His work habits were extremely rigid. When an old friend arrived at Needham’s office in Cambridge without an appointment, Needham sent him back to London with no apology, saying only that he was frightfully busy.
In his typical fashion, Winchester offers readers much information tangential to his main story. Within the narrative of Needham’s research and writing, we learn about the rigors of travel in China, about the physical and political atmosphere in Cambridge, about ideographic language and that the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, attended a lecture given by Needham in Chicago. It is a mark of Winchester’s skill that the facts do not overwhelm the reader. Instead Winchester’s eagerness to add “one more thing” gives the story a sense of vivacity and urgency.
Both fans of Simon Winchester and those unfamiliar with his work will enjoy The Man Who Loved China, an entertaining and well-researched introduction to Joseph Needham and his fascinating career.
• Simon Winchester will discuss and sign The Man Who Loved China at 7 p.m. May 6 at the Schlafly branch of the St. Louis Public Library, 225 N. Euclid Ave. Call 367-4120 for more information.
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