Talk:Joseph Needham

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[edit] Comments

I am trying to beef-up the China section in the History of science. This poem is from memory; I read it 30 years ago but am hesitant to enter it into the article unless you know where I can dig up a copy of Needham's 3-6 volume book. -- regards, Ancheta Wis 02:04, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I farm the the land from which I take my food.

I watch the sun rise and the sun set.

Kings can ask no more.

--this is the sense of a Chinese poem quoted by Joseph Needham

[edit] Use of honorary title in article

I have removed the references to Needham as "Sir Joseph" or "Sir Needham" because:

• I assume the title was bestowed on him and as not inherited. I assume this because the references to his parents does not suggest they were members of the nobility.
• If the knighthood was bestowed upon Needham rather than inheriting it, the use of it as an honorific is not supported by Wikipedia naming conventions. This is outlined at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (names and titles) under "Other non-royal names, point 5.

The actual title bestowed upon Needham could be added to the article (for example, a Knight of the ....?), but for consistency with other articles, the honorific preceding his name should not be used. Euryalus 11:43, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] My additions

This is what I included.

Works by Joseph Needham

Science, religion and reality (1925)

Chemical embryology (1931)

The great amphibium, four lectures on the position of religion in a world dominated by science (1931)

Perspectives in biochemistry; thirty-one essays presented to Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins by past and present members of his laboratory (1937)

History is On Our Side (1947)

Science outpost; papers of the Sino-British science co-operation office (British council scientific office in China) 1942-1946 (1948)

Science and civilisation in China (1954)

Science and civilization in China, by Joseph Needham, with the research assistance [and collaboration] of Wang Ling. (1954-59) 2 Volumes

A History of Embryology (1959)

The grand titration: science and society in East and West (1969)

Within the four seas : the dialogue of east and west (1969)

Clerks and craftsmen in China and the west: lectures and addresses on the history of science and technology (1970)

Chinese science; explorations of an ancient tradition (1973)

Moulds of understanding : a pattern of natural philosophy (1976)

The shorter Science and civilisation in China, volume 1 : an abridgement of Joseph Needham's original text (1978)

The shorter science and civilisation in China, volume 2 : an abridgement of Joseph Needham's original text (1978)

The shorter Science and civilisation in China : an abridgement of Joseph Needham's original text, volume 3 (1978)

Science in Traditional China (1982)

Science in traditional China : a comparative perspective (1982)

The Genius of China (1986)

Heavenly clockwork : the great astronomical clocks of medieval China (1986)

The Hall of Heavenly Records : Korean astronomical instruments and clocks, 1380-1780 (1986)

-Bill-

April 26, 2008