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Joseph Needham in 1988, surrounded by Chinese History and Sciences scholars.

(Draft #1) Background: Science and Civilisation in China.

Joseph Needham’s interest in the history of Chinese science developed while he worked as an Embryologist at Cambridge University. At the time, Needham had already published works relating to the history of science, including his 1934 book titled A History of Embryology, and was open to expanding his historical scientific knowledge. Needham’s first encounter with Chinese culture occured in 1937 when three Chinese medical students arrived to work with him at the Cambridge Biochemical Laboratory. Needham’s interest in Chinese civilization and scientific progress grew as a result and led him to learn Chinese from his students. Two of those students,Wang Ling, and Lu Gwei-djen, would later become his collaborators on Science and Civilisation in China.

In 1941, China’s eastern universities were forced to relocate to the west as a result of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Chinese academics sought the help of the British government in an effort to preserve their intellectual life. In 1942, Needham was selected and appointed as a diplomat by the British government and tasked with traveling to China and assessing the situation.During his three years there, Needham discovered that the Chinese had developed techniques and mechanisms which were centuries older than their European counterparts. Needham became concerned with the exclusion of China in the history of science and began to question why the Chinese ceased to develop new techniques after the 16th century.

Armed with his new-found knowledge, Needham returned to Cambridge in 1948 and began working on a book with one of the Chinese medical students he met in Cambridge, Wang Ling, who was now a professor at a university. Initially, he planned on releasing only one volume of his findings through the Cambridge University Press, but later changed his mind and proposed up to eleven volumes. In 1954, Needham published the first volume of Science and Civilization in China, which was well received and was followed by other volumes which focused on specific scientific fields and topics. Needham, along with his collaborators, was personally involved in all of the volumes of Science and Civilization, up until Needham’s death in 1995. After Needham’s death, Cambridge University established an institution named after Needham, The Needham Research Institute. Scholars of the institution continue Needham’s work and have published 8 additional volumes of Science and Civilization in China, since his death.