Reviving Ancient Chinese Mathematics

This book is a study of the life of one of modern China’s most admired scientific figures, the mathematician Wu Wen-Tsun. Negotiating the conflict between progress and tradition, he found a path that not only ensured his political and personal survival, but which also brought him renown as a mathematician of international status who claimed that he stood outside the dominant western tradition of mathematics. This book traces how Wu managed to combine political success and international scientific eminence, a story which has wider implications for a new century of increasing Chinese activity in the sciences.