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Joseph Needham
Sign in to saveAlso known as Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, Henry Holorenshaw
British biochemist, historian and sinologist (1900–1995)
OverviewAI-generated
Joseph Needham was a British historian, biochemist, writer, and philosopher born in London in 1900. He was educated at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, where he later worked as an employee. His doctoral advisor was Frederick Hopkins, and he specialized in biochemistry, embryology, and sinology. Needham wrote in English and was a member of the Royal Society, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the British Academy, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He received several awards, including the George Sarton Medal and the Dexter Award, and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society and the British Academy. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and the Nobel Peace Prize. Needham was married to Dorothy M. Needham and Lu Gwei-djen. He died in Cambridge in 1995 from Parkinson's disease. His notable works include *Science, religion and reality* and *中国古代科学*.
Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1900
- Died
- 1995
- Works
- 146
Top works
- 中国古代科学
- 李約瑟博士應邀訪華學術講演辭
- 四海之內
- Science, religion and reality
- 李约瑟博士及其《中国科学技术史》
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Born
- Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham , 9 December 1900 ( 1900-12-09 ) , London , England
- Died
- 24 March 1995 (1995-03-24) (aged 94), Cambridge , Cambridgeshire , England
- Education
- Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge ( BA , MA , PhD )
- Occupations
- Biochemist , historian of science , sinologist
- Known for
- Science and Civilisation in China
- Spouses
- Dorothy Moyle Needham ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1924 ; died 1987 ) Lu Gwei-djen ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1989 ; died 1991 )
- Awards
- Leonardo da Vinci Medal (1968), Dexter Award (1979)
- Traditional chinese
- 李約瑟
- Simplified chinese
- 李约瑟
- Literal meaning
- Li (surname 李) Joseph
- Hanyu pinyin
- Lǐ Yuēsè
- Wade giles
- Li Yüeh-Sê
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Place of birth
- London
- Place of death
- Cambridge
- Spouse
- Lu Gwei-djen
- Mother
- Alicia Adélaide Needham
- Occupation
- philosopher
- Educated at
- University of Cambridge
- Employer
- University of Cambridge
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Doctoral advisor
- Frederick Hopkins
- Field of work
- sinology
- Image
- Joseph Needham in Cambridge 1965 04.jpg
Show 12 more facts
- member of
- National Academy of Sciences
- date of birth
- 1900-12-09
- date of death
- 1995-03-24
- nominated for
- Nobel Peace Prize
- cause of death
- Parkinson's disease
- name in native language
- Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham
- student
- Mikuláš Teich
- Commons category
- Joseph Needham
- maintained by WikiProject
- WikiProject Mathematics
- P12749
- Malestroit
- writing language
- English language
- manner of death
- natural causes
via Wikidata · CC0
~35 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (/ˈniːdəm/; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, initiating publication of the multivolume Science and Civilisation in China. He called attention to what has come to be known as the Needham Question, of why and how China had ceded its leadership in science and technology to Western countries.
He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1941 and a fellow of the British Academy in 1971. In 1992, Queen Elizabeth II conferred on him the Order of the Companions of Honour, and the Royal Society noted he was the only living person to hold these three titles.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Joseph Needham” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.