Bomb, Book and Compass: Joseph Needham and the Great Secrets of China - Softcover

Winchester, Simon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141011580 ISBN 13: 9780141011585

Publisher: Penguin, 2009

Synopsis

The seventeenth-century philosopher-statesman Francis Bacon famously declared that nothing had changed the world more profoundly than three great inventions: gunpowder, printing and the compass. What he didn't know was that the Chinese had been successfully using all three, long before the west ever 'invented' them. And yet it was another 300 years before a remarkable man called Joseph Needham embarked on his epic, lifetime's work which would finally set the record straight. Inspired by a wartime mission to occupied China, he started writing what would become a twenty-four-volume masterpiece, chronicling the nation's astonishing history of invention and technology over five thousand years. It was, and remains, the greatest work on China ever created in the Western world.

In Bomb, Book and Compass, Simon Winchester tells the story of Joseph Needham, his magnificent book, the passion that inspired it, and the remarkable rise of the Chinese nation that continues to this day.

About this title

About the Author

Simon Winchester was born and educated in England and was a foreign correspondent for 30 years, reporting for much of that time from Asia, including mainland China and Hong Kong. His many highly-acclaimed and bestselling books include The River at the Centre of the World, The Surgeon of Crowthorne and The Map that Changed the World. He now lives in New York and in western Massachusetts.

From the Back Cover

'A fascinating, revealing story, told with Winchester's customary brio and wit'Telegraph

The seventeenth-century philosopher-statesman Francis Bacon famously declared that nothing had changed the world more profoundly than three great inventions: gunpowder, printing and the compass. What he didn't know was that the Chinese had been successfully using all three, long before the west ever 'invented' them. And yet it was another 300 years before a remarkable man called Joseph Needham embarked on his epic, lifetime's work which would finally set the record straight. Inspired by a wartime mission to occupied China, he started writing what would become a twenty-four-volume masterpiece, chronicling the nation's astonishing history of invention and technology over five thousand years. It was, and remains, the greatest work on China ever created in the Western world.

In Bomb, Book and Compass, Simon Winchester tells the story of Joseph Needham, his magnificent book, the passion that inspired it, and the remarkable rise of the Chinese nation that continues to this day.

'One man's graceful, diverting account of another man's passion'The Times

'Succinct, enjoyable, engaging'Financial Times

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141011580
• ISBN 13: 9780141011585
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336