Joseph Needham

Joseph Needham

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Joseph Needham , 1900-1995, British biochemist, historian of science, and sinologist, b. London. He had a lifelong association with Cambridge, where he was educated (Ph.D. 1924), taught biochemistry (1924-66), served as master of Gonville and Caius College (1966-76), and founded and directed the Needham Research Institute (1976-90). An embryologist, he wrote such books as Chemical Embryology (3 vol., 1931) and A History of Embryology (1934). Fascinated with all things Chinese, he learned Mandarin and headed (1942-46) the Sino-British Science Cooperation Office in Chongqing, China. After World War II he served (1946-48) as UNESCO's director of natural sciences. Needham wrote more than a dozen books, but by far his greatest achievement is the monumental Science and Civilization in China (7 vol., 1954-), a study of the history of Chinese science and technology and their relation to China's culture and society that was complete through its sixth volume at his death.

Bibliography: See M. Goldsmith, Joseph Needham: 20th-Century Renaissance Man (1995); S. K. Mukherjee and A. Ghosh, ed., The Life and Works of Joseph Needham (1997); P. Y. Ho, Reminiscence of a Roving Scholar: Science, Humanities, and Joseph Needham (2005); S. Winchester, The Man Who Loved China (2008).

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-NeedhamJ" title="Facts and information about Joseph Needham">Joseph Needham</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Joseph Needham." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Joseph Needham." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-NeedhamJ.html

"Joseph Needham." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-NeedhamJ.html

Learn more about citation styles

The Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations | 2006 | © The Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O218-NeedhamJoseph" title="Facts and information about Joseph Needham">Joseph Needham</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Needham, Joseph." The Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Needham, Joseph." The Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (December 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O218-NeedhamJoseph.html

"Needham, Joseph." The Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved December 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O218-NeedhamJoseph.html

Learn more about citation styles

Who's Who in the Twentieth Century | 1999 | © Who's Who in the Twentieth Century 1999, originally published by Oxford University Press 1999. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O47-NeedhamJoseph" title="Facts and information about Joseph Needham">Joseph Needham</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Needham, Joseph." Who's Who in the Twentieth Century. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Needham, Joseph." Who's Who in the Twentieth Century. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (December 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O47-NeedhamJoseph.html

"Needham, Joseph." Who's Who in the Twentieth Century. 1999. Retrieved December 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O47-NeedhamJoseph.html

Learn more about citation styles

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

Joseph Needham. Science and Civilisation in China: The Social Background, General Conclusions and Reflections, vol. 7, part 2.(Book review)
Magazine article from: China Review International; 9/22/2005; ; 700+ words ; Joseph Needham. Science and Civilisation in China...Nakayama Shigeru, and I were nagging Joseph Needham to begin writing the final volume of...toward writing and life. In 1949, Joseph Needham encouraged him to take himself seriously...
Biography tells secrets of Joseph Needham, his China love affairs
News Wire article from: Xinhua News Agency; 9/23/2008; 671 words ; Biography tells secrets of Joseph Needham, his China love affairs LONDON...name for an English intellectual Joseph Needham, is at least a household name...rightly deserved. The man was Joseph Needham, or better known in China, Dr...
OBITUARY:Joseph Needham
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 3/27/1995; ; 700+ words ; With the death of Joseph Needham the world of learning has lost one...found close-packed in ranges. Needham matured at Cambridge in the presence...elected Fellows of the Royal Society. Joseph Needham was the only child of a Harley Street...
China's Greatest Student; The making of Joseph Needham's multi- volume masterpiece.
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 5/25/2008; 700+ words ; ...27.95 The great Sinologist Joseph Needham (1900- 1995) is a legend for...technology. But it is the famous "Needham question," which asks why the...eccentric British intellectuals. Needham makes a great subject. A Cambridge...
JOSEPH NEEDHAM, 94; SCIENTIST, SCHOLAR.(CAPITAL REGION)
Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY); 3/26/1995; 601 words ; ...Associated Press CAMBRIDGE, England Joseph Needham, scientist, scholar and authority...eminent biochemist Dr. Dorothy Needham, to whom he was married for...printing and engineering. Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, was born Dec. 9, 1900...
Birth of Joseph Needham.(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: History Today; 12/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; December 9th, 1900 Joseph Needham was one of the twentieth century's...Colombo to Kyoto, Paris and Peking. Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham was the only child of Joseph Needham, a Harley Street specialist in anaesthetics...
China, the West, and World History in Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China(*).
Magazine article from: Journal of World History; 9/22/2000; ; 700+ words ; Long before the death of Joseph Needham in 1995 at the age of ninety-four...volume in 1954 by declaring that Needham's project represents "perhaps...special conditions that produced Needham's masterwork, it is unlikely that...
OBITUARY : Joseph Needham
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 4/24/1995; ; 700+ words ; When I first met Joseph Needham in 1947 at Unesco...Cambridge, I got to know Needham much better through...inscribed copy of Joseph's book of essays...Christian Marxism, Joseph was not a holy fool...pictures of the aged Needham being carried aloft...
Joseph Needham. Science and Civilisation in China. Volume 6, Biology and Biological Technology. Part 6, Medicine.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: China Review International; 3/22/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...volume consists of essays written by Joseph Needham and his longtime collaborator Lu...by the editor, Nathan Sivin. Needham and Lu had intended to write a...They do not include material from Needham's and Lu's book-length study...
Bomb, Book and Compass: Joseph Needham and the Great Secrets of China.(Book review)
Magazine article from: History Today; 5/1/2009; ; 700+ words ; Bomb, Book and Compass Joseph Needham and the Great Secrets of China...Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Joseph Needham towered over the small band of...communes and barefoot doctors, but Joseph Needham just went on and on. We did not...

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Popular on Newser: