Within the Four Seas: The Dialogue of East and West

Joseph Needham (1900 – 1995) was a British Marxist, biochemist, historian and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology.

This book contains some of Joseph Needham’s most significant essays, lectures and broadcasts on the history of Chinese science, technology and culture. Also included are some more personal thoughts stimulated by his own travels and experiences in China, including a number of poems.
The book discusses the valuable social and intellectual influences which have flowed to Europe from South as well as East Asia, and suggests that the events of the twentieth century were a natural development of Chinese history, not a deviation from it.