Native name 魯桂珍 Residence Cambridge Spouse Joseph Needham (m. 1989) | Role Author Name Lu Gwei-djen Books Celestial lancets | |
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Born July 22, 1904 ( 1904-07-22 ) Nanjing Occupation Academic, Biochemist, Historian of science and technology in China Died November 28, 1991, Cambridge | ||
Lu Gwei-djen (Chinese: 魯桂珍; pinyin: Lǔ Guìzhēn; Wade–Giles: Lu Kui-chen) (July 22, 1904－Nov 28,1991) was an expert on the history of science and technology in China and a doctor of nutriology. She was an important researcher and co-author of the project Science and Civilisation in China led by Joseph Needham.
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Career
In 1937, aged 33, she undertook postgraduate study at The University of Cambridge under Dorothy M. Needham and moved to the U.S. during the World War. In 1945 she joined the Needhams in Chongqing as a consultant for nutrition at the Co-operation office and in 1948 moved to Paris to work at UNESCO at the secretariat for natural sciences.
Works
Among the work on which she is credited as co-author are:
Legacy
The Lu Gwei-Djen Prize for the History of Science awarded by Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge is named in her honour as is the Lu Gwei Djen Research Fellowship awarded by Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge - a position currently held by biophysicist Dr Eileen Nugent.
Personal life
The daughter of a pharmacist, she was well known as Needham's long-time assistant, co-author, Chinese language teacher and his second wife. Both Lu Gwei-Djen and Needham's first wife, Dorothy, were founding fellows of Lucy Cavendish College, a college in the University of Cambridge founded in 1965 where women over age 21 can study.