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| Piercing the Wall |
| Ravi Bhoothalingam / New Delhi Jan 06, 2009, 00:21 IST |
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First, a disclosure. I was a student of Joseph Needham, the subject of this compelling biography, when he was Master of Caius College, Cambridge, in the mid-60s. One day, he asked me to take care of four students, newly arrived from Mao’s China. When I hesitated, reminding him that India had fought a war with China just a few years earlier, he chided me gently, saying, “Ravi, you must learn to take the long view.”
If anyone was master of the long view, it was without doubt Joseph Needham. Born in 1900, this brilliant polymath, linguist and scientist had achieved great eminence as a biochemist by his early thirties, and at 41 was already a Fellow of the Royal Society. Suddenly, his life took a drastic turn. He turned his attention entirely to the study of Chinese civilization, with full University support, and his fascination soon became a magnificent obsession as he discovered how many of mankind’s most familiar innovations had originated in China, sometimes centuries before they appeared elsewhere. From this research emerged the monumental Science and Civilisation in China, 18 volumes of which came out before his death (aged 94); six more have since been added. In its encyclopaedic sweep and range, and its audacity, this work has been compared to Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Simon Winchester is an accomplished storyteller, and he tackles Needham’s life and quest with verve and gusto. In this, he is helped not a little by Needham’s own character—for the scientist was no nerdy introvert but a colourful and multi-faceted personality. He was a Communist sympathizer all his life, an ardent nudist and an enthusiastic country dancer. He enjoyed the company of women, and they reciprocated in equal earnest. Needham, his wife and his Chinese mistress-cum-academic collaborator all enjoyed an amiable and life-long relationship, living within a few yards of each other on the same street. These interesting facts were not known to the student body (or at least to this student), otherwise Needham would have been something of a folk-hero, and not just another respected, courteous Cambridge eccentric.
But as Winchester tells the story, Needham’s eccentricities were central to his grand project. For a start, his interest in things Chinese was sparked off, quite literally, when he asked his mistress how to write ‘cigarette’ in Chinese characters. Right there, he resolved to learn Chinese and within two years knew enough to read ancient texts. With his scientific background and fluency in the language, Needham was chosen to head a high-level British scientific mission to China during the Second World War. Winchester’s two chapters about Needham’s travels in China are as riveting as in any spy novel, replete with elements of danger, suspense, intrigue and mystery as Needham criss-crossed China to help Chinese scientists and universities. On the side, he sought evidence for ancient Chinese discoveries in physics, chemistry, architecture, geology, ceramics, agriculture, irrigation, engineering, and navigation…. the scope itself is daunting. He lists more than 250 original inventions including vaccination, perfumed toilet paper, arched as well as suspension bridges, wheelbarrow, umbrella, stirrup…From such fieldwork there emerged in 1954 — after much refinement from subject specialists — the first volume of Science and Civilisation in China. Finally, he addresses what is called ‘the Needham question’: why, after 2000 years of technological superiority, did China slip far behind the West after the year 1500? For the answer, read the book.
Needham’s labours had their pains. He was ostracized by many and denied a visa by the US for many years because he supported an ill-founded claim that the US had used biological weapons during the Korean War. Winchester’s moving last chapter shows Needham in his final years racing against Parkinson’s disease to complete his masterwork. In his epilogue, Winchester demonstrates how Needham, almost single-handedly, not only altered the prevalent views about China, but also challenged (and changed forever) dominant Euro-centric convictions on the origins of human knowledge. Truly, by the end of his life, Needham had taught many more people than he realized, what it means to take the long view. India, too, needs such a champion.
THE MAN WHO LOVED CHINA
THE FANTASTIC STORY OF THE ECCENTRIC SCIENTIST WHO UNLOCKED THE MYSTERIES OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM
Simon Winchester
HarperCollins
316 pp, Rs 888
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