{"aliases":[],"awards":["Fellow of the Royal Society","John Desmond Bernal Prize","George Sarton Medal","Dexter Award","Fellow of the British Academy","honorary doctor of the University of Hong Kong","honorary doctor of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences","honorary doctor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong","Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize","Prix Stanislas Julien"],"biography_summary":"Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 \u2013 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.","birth_date":"1900-12-09","birth_place":"London","birth_place_coordinates":{"latitude":51.507222,"longitude":-0.1275},"birth_place_wikidata_id":"Q84","birth_place_wikidata_url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q84","canonical_name":"Joseph Needham","canonical_url":"https://zh-cn.instaget.online/people/2886b37c6115cc4b3ce24fed","citizenships":["United Kingdom"],"death_date":"1995-03-24","description":"British biochemist, historian and sinologist (1900\u20131995)","external_ids":{"isni":{"id":"0000000109069192","url":"https://isni.org/isni/0000000109069192"},"loc":{"id":"n50031711","url":"https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50031711.html"},"viaf":{"id":"61550127","url":"https://viaf.org/viaf/61550127/"}},"full_name":"Joseph Needham","height_cm":null,"names":{"aliases":["Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham","Henry Holorenshaw"],"birth":[],"native":[{"language":"en","source_property":"P1559","value":"Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham"}],"official":[]},"native_name":null,"notable_works":[],"occupations":["historian","biochemist","writer","philosopher","sinologist","historian of science"],"official_websites":[],"photo":null,"profile_url":"https://zh-cn.instaget.online/people/2886b37c6115cc4b3ce24fed","provenance":{"catalog":"wikidata_wikipedia","fetched_at":"2026-08-29T07:38:09Z","social_archives_included":false,"source_url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q318054"},"public_hash":"2886b37c6115cc4b3ce24fed","schema_version":"1.1","socials":{},"tags":[{"key":"category:arts-and-culture","label":"Arts and culture","type":"category"},{"key":"category:science-and-academia","label":"Science and academia","type":"category"},{"key":"occupation:historian","label":"historian","type":"occupation"},{"key":"occupation:biochemist","label":"biochemist","type":"occupation"},{"key":"occupation:writer","label":"writer","type":"occupation"},{"key":"occupation:philosopher","label":"philosopher","type":"occupation"},{"key":"occupation:sinologist","label":"sinologist","type":"occupation"},{"key":"occupation:historian of science","label":"historian of science","type":"occupation"},{"key":"country:london","label":"London","type":"country"},{"key":"citizenship:united kingdom","label":"United Kingdom","type":"citizenship"}],"wikidata_id":"Q318054","wikidata_url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q318054","wikipedia_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Needham"}