Breakfast

After establishing his reputation as a self-taught scholar of Chinese culture, Joseph Needham went on to single-handedly change Western perceptions of China as a backward-looking, feudal empire. Needham's 24-volume masterpiece Science and Civilisation in China set the record straight about how many Chinese inventions had been mistaken for Western ideas.

Guests

Simon Winchester
Journalist and author

Publications

Title: Bomb, Book and Compass: Joseph Needham and the Great Secrets of China
Author: Simon Winchester
Publisher: Penguin/Viking

Reporter

Producer: Gail Boserio

Radio National often provides links to external websites to complement program information. While producers have taken care with all selections, we can neither endorse nor take final responsibility for the content of those sites.