Joseph Needham

11.0k total citations · 2 hit papers
158 papers, 3.5k citations indexed

About

Joseph Needham is a scholar working on Sociology and Political Science, History and Philosophy of Science and Astronomy and Astrophysics. According to data from OpenAlex, Joseph Needham has authored 158 papers receiving a total of 3.5k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 22 papers in Sociology and Political Science, 19 papers in History and Philosophy of Science and 14 papers in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Recurrent topics in Joseph Needham's work include Chinese history and philosophy (22 papers), History of Science and Medicine (17 papers) and Historical Astronomy and Related Studies (12 papers). Joseph Needham is often cited by papers focused on Chinese history and philosophy (22 papers), History of Science and Medicine (17 papers) and Historical Astronomy and Related Studies (12 papers). Joseph Needham collaborates with scholars based in United States, United Kingdom and South Sudan. Joseph Needham's co-authors include L. Carrington Goodrich, Ling Wang, Wendy Dobson, Lu Gwei‐Djen, Richard M. Robinson, Lingyu Yang, Arthur W. Hummel, Ralph Croizier, C. A. Ronan and Ling Wang and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología and Physics Today.

In The Last Decade

Joseph Needham

138 papers receiving 2.6k citations

Hit Papers

Science and Civilization in China. 1963 2026 1984 2005 1976 1963 100 200 300 400 500

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name h Career Trend Papers Cites
Joseph Needham United States 27 998 335 320 274 246 158 3.5k
Thomas J. M. Schöpf United States 26 563 0.6× 437 1.3× 205 0.6× 75 0.3× 49 0.2× 81 4.9k
J. E. McGuire United States 15 983 1.0× 777 2.3× 192 0.6× 311 1.1× 48 0.2× 40 5.2k
Roger Lewin United States 28 532 0.5× 160 0.5× 281 0.9× 79 0.3× 126 0.5× 321 4.5k
Marie Boas Hall United Kingdom 14 1.0k 1.0× 646 1.9× 154 0.5× 286 1.0× 37 0.2× 61 4.9k
Simon Schaffer United Kingdom 23 979 1.0× 1.5k 4.5× 575 1.8× 324 1.2× 79 0.3× 82 4.2k
Isabelle Stengers Belgium 29 1.8k 1.8× 385 1.1× 248 0.8× 413 1.5× 53 0.2× 154 7.4k
William H. McNeill United States 29 1.7k 1.7× 132 0.4× 520 1.6× 969 3.5× 163 0.7× 197 4.5k
Michael Lynch United States 35 1.9k 2.0× 432 1.3× 218 0.7× 291 1.1× 57 0.2× 179 6.2k
Lorraine Daston Germany 35 1.1k 1.1× 1.4k 4.2× 515 1.6× 404 1.5× 84 0.3× 183 5.2k
Derek J. de Solla Price United States 15 981 1.0× 540 1.6× 57 0.2× 383 1.4× 56 0.2× 53 7.1k

Countries citing papers authored by Joseph Needham

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Joseph Needham's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Joseph Needham with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Joseph Needham more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Joseph Needham

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Joseph Needham. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Joseph Needham. The network helps show where Joseph Needham may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Joseph Needham

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Joseph Needham. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Joseph Needham based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Joseph Needham. Joseph Needham is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Needham, Joseph, et al.. (2004). General conclusions and reflections. Cambridge University Press eBooks. 6 indexed citations
2.
Needham, Joseph & C. A. Ronan. (1988). Wissenschaft und Zivilisation in China. Suhrkamp eBooks. 1 indexed citations
3.
Needham, Joseph, et al.. (1986). Military technology : the gunpowder epic. Cambridge University Press eBooks. 4 indexed citations
4.
Needham, Joseph, et al.. (1985). Paper and printing. Chemistry & Chemical Technology. 20 indexed citations
5.
Needham, Joseph, et al.. (1983). Book-Review - Science and Civilisation in China. 306(5939). 120. 1 indexed citations
6.
Gwei‐Djen, Lu & Joseph Needham. (1983). Spagyrical discovery and invention : physiological alchemy. Cambridge University Press eBooks. 4 indexed citations
7.
Needham, Joseph, et al.. (1980). Spagyrical discovery and invention : apparatus, theories and gifts. Cambridge University Press eBooks. 5 indexed citations
8.
Needham, Joseph, et al.. (1979). Wissenschaftlicher Universalismus : über Bedeutung und Besonderheit der chinesischen Wissenschaft. Suhrkamp eBooks. 1 indexed citations
9.
Needham, Joseph, et al.. (1976). Spagyrical discovery and invention : historical survey, from cinnabar elixirs to synthetic insulin. Cambridge University Press eBooks. 1 indexed citations
10.
Needham, Joseph & Walter Pagel. (1975). Background to modern science. Arno Press eBooks. 8 indexed citations
11.
Needham, Joseph. (1974). Astronomy in ancient and medieval china. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series A Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 276(1257). 67–82. 2 indexed citations
12.
Gwei‐Djen, Lu & Joseph Needham. (1974). Spagyrical discovery and invention : magisteries of gold and immortality. Cambridge University Press eBooks. 5 indexed citations
13.
Needham, Joseph. (1973). La science chinoise et l'occident : le grand titrage. Seuil eBooks. 7 indexed citations
14.
Needham, Joseph, et al.. (1962). Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, O.M., F. R. S. (1861-1947) Centenary Lecture held on 20 November 1961 in the University of Cambridge. Notes and Records the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science. 17(2). 117–162. 8 indexed citations
15.
Needham, Joseph. (1962). Astronomy in Classical China. 3. 87. 1 indexed citations
16.
Needham, Joseph. (1959). The Wilkins Lecture - The missing link in horological history: a Chinese contribution. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 250(1261). 147–179. 2 indexed citations
17.
Needham, Joseph & Ling Wang. (1959). Mathematics and the sciences of the heavens and the earth. Cambridge University Press eBooks. 49 indexed citations
18.
Needham, Joseph. (1959). Review of Oriental Despotism. Science & Society. 23. 3 indexed citations
19.
Needham, Joseph, et al.. (1957). "Spiked" comets in ancient China. Observatory. 77. 137–138. 2 indexed citations
20.
Wang, Ling & Joseph Needham. (1956). History of scientific thought. Cambridge University Press eBooks. 26 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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