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Bomb, Book and Compass: Joseph Needham and the Great Secrets of China

by: Simon Winchester

September 25, 2008

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The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder,Madness and the Oxford English Dictionary

by: Simon Winchester

July 25, 2002
The subject of the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary might seem to some as interesting as plowing through the subject text itself. Some might be more intrigued, the bibliophile, amateur lexicographer or philologist taking interest in the heritage of one of the greatest works in the English language. But those who are interested in biography or narrative history may discern a more exciting prospect. This is the story of two men, both central and devoted to the OED, and sharing as many similarities as they shared stark differences.

Some reviewers have commented that the story set out in this book would be dismissed as fantasy if it masqueraded as fiction. That it is a true story makes it quite remarkable. This is a tale ... Read More:

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The Map That Changed the World: A Tale of Rocks, Ruin and Redemption

by: Simon Winchester

July 04, 2002
Simon Winchester admits in this book that it is not a scholarly work and he is gracious enough to point toward other works that are. What we do get is a well written account of William Smith the Father of Geology that a layman like myself can understand. I am a complete numpty when it comes to Geology, social history and engineering. It was a pleasant surprise to me when I came away from this book having been enlightened. I think perhaps it was the likes of me that Mr Winchester aimed his book at. Well the arrow struck home.
Now I know something about how the differnt rock layers were created over immense time periods. I know more about the different types of fossil. I know a little more about canal and mine building. I am aware of how cruel the class ... Read More:

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A Crack in the Edge of the World: The Great American Earthquake of 1906

by: Simon Winchester

April 06, 2006
Given that almost half of the book is devoted to an exploration of the world's geology - particularly the New Geology of plate tectonics and how it relates to the phenomenon of earthquakes - you might expect A Crack in the Edge of the World to be on the dry side; but not at all. I found it riveting, and came away better informed, infected by Winchester's obvious passion for his subject and mildly relieved not to be living in, say, Olema (where during the 1906 earthquake one highway was cut in two and the ends shifted, relative to one another, by twenty feet), or Petrolia (which has a measurable seismic event every couple of hours); or indeed any of the hundreds of communities that sit astride the San Andreas fault - including, of course, San Francisco - where the Pacific ... Read More:

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Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire

by: Simon Winchester

June 05, 2003
In 1914, the globe was spanned by the British Empire, on which the sun truly never set. As a boy, I collected stamps, and I was in awe of the number of faraway and exotic places that featured the likeness of the British monarch on their issues. It was, perhaps, these colorful bits of paper, along with the tales of Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart, and King Arthur that engendered in me a lasting love for and fascination with Great Britain. I've visited the mother island on more than a dozen occasions; I long to be there now. Simon Winchester's OUTPOSTS took me in a different direction - outward to the last vestiges of Empire.

British Indian Ocean Territory, Tristan da Cunha, Gibraltar, Ascension Island, St. Helena, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos Islands, the ... Read More:

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The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom

by: Simon Winchester

May 06, 2008
This is a timely biography, its publication coinciding with the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a disastrous major earthquake, which have together turned the eyes of the world's media onto the "Middle Kingdom", as the Chinese have confidently called their country for 5,000 years, believing throughout this time that it is indeed the centre of the world. It now seems that China's (and Needham's) time in the spotlight has come at last.

I remember Joseph Needham as the Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University when I matriculated there as a young man in 1975, though he retired from the Mastership one year later. The Needham Research Institute at Cambridge for the study of East Asian history, science and technology preserves his name in perpetuity, while in China ... Read More:

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Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883

by: Simon Winchester

June 03, 2004
In "Krakatoa" author Simon Winchester examines the great explosion of August 27, 1883 from all angles, including historical, scientific, social, political and religious. He starts by explaining the social structure in the Dutch East Indies at the time. He then goes on to explain the scientific explanations for what happened and why. A fascinating portion is the story of the scientific studies which recorded the effects of the blast including water waves thousands of miles away and the air wave which circled the globe seven times during the first fifteen days. As the book progresses he impact the blast had on the natives and Europeans living in the area. He eventually suggests that the rise in Muslim devotion in the Dutch East Indies may have been the result of a fundamentalist turn ... Read More:

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The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary

by: Simon Winchester

September 23, 2004
The towering products of the English language include several disparate kinds of works - the plays of Shakespeare, the poetry of Chaucer, the Authorised King James Version of the Bible, the Encyclopedia Britannica, and the book that is the subject of Simon Winchester's text, the Oxford English Dictionary. Contrary to the belief of some who might never have seen the dictionary, this is no 'mere' dictionary. Some people have the two volume edition that comes in a box-slip case with a magnifying glass (I remember being offered one such when I belonged to a book club twenty years ago), whereas major libraries will have the larger-print 20 volumes of words.

This is a publication still in progress. The OED now has plans for a BBC television show that hunts for words and word origins; ... Read More:

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The River at the Centre of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time

by: Simon Winchester

February 26, 1998
This book contains a wondrous selection of linguistic oddities - those that could do with the attention of a proof-reader (bindles, decoctions and similar), spellings that illustrate trans-atlantic schizophrenia (dike/dyke) and lack of confidence with prepositions (`raft the river' and `raft on the river'. There are the obscure phrases(.. sealed his letter with a huge red chop), the peculiar (.. gun his engine, .. jury-rig the radiator) and the occasional reference that I feel is simply wrong e.g. `Tibetan bibles' (Bibles being Christian Holy Script, not Buddhist.
Apart from these obstacles, the rest of the language is beautifully crafted and descriptive. It is an excellent `Starter Kit' for those interested in China but with little or no previous knowledge - informative but it doesn't batter you ... Read More:

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Tales from Nowhere (Lonely Planet Travel Literature)

by: T. Cahill, D. George, P. Iyer, Anthony Sattin, S. Stewart, D. Wallace, Simon Winchester

September 01, 2006
This book contains a wondrous selection of linguistic oddities - those that could do with the attention of a proof-reader (bindles, decoctions and similar), spellings that illustrate trans-atlantic schizophrenia (dike/dyke) and lack of confidence with prepositions (`raft the river' and `raft on the river'. There are the obscure phrases(.. sealed his letter with a huge red chop), the peculiar (.. gun his engine, .. jury-rig the radiator) and the occasional reference that I feel is simply wrong e.g. `Tibetan bibles' (Bibles being Christian Holy Script, not Buddhist.
Apart from these obstacles, the rest of the language is beautifully crafted and descriptive. It is an excellent `Starter Kit' for those interested in China but with little or no previous knowledge - informative but it doesn't batter you ... Read More: