Winchester, Simon

The professor and the madman : a tale of murder, insanity, and the making of the Oxford English dictionary by Simon Winchester( Book )

67 editions published between 1998 and 2017 in 5 languages and held by 4,546 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary began in 1857, took seventy years to complete, drew from tens of thousands of brilliant minds, and organized the sprawling language into 414,825 precise definitions. But hidden within the rituals of its creation is a fascinating and mysterious story - a story of two remarkable men whose strange twenty-year relationship lies at the core of this historic undertaking. Professor James Murray, an astonishingly learned former schoolmaster and bank clerk, was the distinguished editor of the OED project. Dr. William Chester Minor, an American surgeon from New Haven, Connecticut, who had served in the Civil War, was one of thousands of contributors who submitted illustrative quotations of words to be used in the dictionary. But Minor was no ordinary contributor. He was remarkably prolific, sending thousands of neat, handwritten quotations from his home in the small village of Crowthorne, fifty miles from Oxford. On numerous occasions Murray invited Minor to visit Oxford and celebrate his work, but Murray's offer was regularly - and mysteriously - refused. Thus the two men, for two decades, maintained a close relationship only through correspondence. Finally, in 1896, after Minor had sent nearly ten thousand definitions to the dictionary but had still never traveled from his home, a puzzled Murray set out to visit him. It was then that Murray finally learned the truth about Minor - that, in addition to being a masterful wordsmith, Minor was also a murderer, clinically insane - and locked up in Broadmoor, England's harshest asylum for criminal lunatics

Krakatoa : the day the world exploded, August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester( Book )

58 editions published between 1989 and 2013 in English and Undetermined and held by 3,855 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Considers the global impact of the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, documenting its cause of an immense tsunami that killed 40,000 people, its impact on the weather for several years, and its role in anti-Western Islamic fundamentalism

The map that changed the world : William Smith and the birth of modern geology by Simon Winchester( Book )

36 editions published between 2001 and 2016 in English and held by 3,137 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The fascinating story of William Smith, the orphaned son of an English country blacksmith, who became obsessed with creating the world's first geological map and ultimately became the father of modern geology. The Map That Changed the World is, at its foundation, a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man's dedication in the face of ruin and homelessness. The world's coal and oil industry, its gold mining, its highway systems, and its railroad routes were all derived entirely from the creation of Smith's first map.; and with a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery

A crack in the edge of the world : America and the great California earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester( Book )

40 editions published between 2005 and 2013 in English and held by 3,045 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Winchester brings his storytelling abilities, as well as his understanding of geology, to the extraordinary San Francisco Earthquake, exploring not only what happened in northern California in 1906 that leveled a city symbolic of America's relentless western expansion, but what we have learned since about the geological underpinnings that caused the earthquake. He also positions the quake's significance along the earth's geological timeline and shows the effect it had on the rest of 20th-century California and American history.--From publisher description

The meaning of everything : the story of the Oxford English dictionary by Simon Winchester( Book )

42 editions published between 2003 and 2018 in English and held by 2,985 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Traces the history of the Oxford English Dictionary from its earliest inception through its long path to completion, describes the process of creating a dictionary, and includes anecdotes about its creators and their work

The men who united the States : America's explorers, inventors, eccentrics, and mavericks, and the creation of one nation, indivisible by Simon Winchester( Book )

25 editions published between 2013 and 2014 in English and held by 2,555 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"For more than two centuries, E pluribus unum-"Out of many, one"--Has been featured on America's official government seals and stamped on its currency. But what unified a growing number of disparate states into the modern country we recognize today? Simon Winchester follows the footsteps of America's most crucial innovators, thinkers and explorers, from Lewis and Clark, to the builders of the first transcontinental railroad and the curmudgeonly civil engineer who oversaw the creation of more than three million miles of highway. Winchester travels across vast swaths of the American landscape, from Pittsburgh to Portland, Seattle to Anchorage and Truckee to Laramie, using the five classical elements Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal to chart the contributions these adventurous leaders made to connect the diverse communities within the United States and ensure the future of the American project begun in 1776."--Publisher description

The man who loved China : the fantastic story of the eccentric scientist who unlocked the mysteries of the Middle Kingdom by Simon Winchester( Book )

25 editions published between 2008 and 2009 in English and held by 2,175 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The extraordinary story of Joseph Needham, the brilliant Cambridge scientist who unlocked the most closely held secrets of China--long the world's most technologically advanced country. This married Englishman, a freethinking intellectual, while working at Cambridge University in 1937, fell in love with a visiting Chinese student, with whom he began a lifelong affair. He became fascinated with China, and embarked on a series of extraordinary expeditions to the farthest frontiers of this ancient empire. He searched everywhere for evidence to bolster his conviction that the Chinese were responsible for hundreds of mankind's most familiar innovations--including printing, the compass, explosives, suspension bridges, even toilet paper--often centuries before the rest of the world. His dangerous journeys took him across war-torn China to far-flung outposts, consolidating his deep admiration for the Chinese people. After the war, Needham began writing what became a seventeen-volume encyclopedia, Science and Civilisation in China.--From publisher description

The perfectionists : how precision engineers created the modern world by Simon Winchester( Book )

20 editions published between 2018 and 2019 in English and Chinese and held by 1,694 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"The revered New York Times bestselling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement--precision--in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future."--Amazon.com

The river at the center of the world : a journey up the Yangtze and back in Chinese time by Simon Winchester( Book )

24 editions published between 1996 and 2014 in English and held by 1,178 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Chronicle of the author's adventures following the often difficult course of the Yangtze River in China, providing a portrait of the vast country, its history, politics, geography, climate, and culture

The Alice behind wonderland by Simon Winchester( Book )

16 editions published between 2011 and 2016 in English and held by 1,152 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"In the summer of 1858, in a garden behind Christ Church in Oxford, Charles Dodgson--better known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll--dressed the six-year-old Alice Liddell in ragamuffin's clothes, and then snapped the camera's shutter. In The Alice Behind Wonderland, Simon Winchester uses the famous photograph of Alice as the launching pad for an appreciative energetic and penetrating look at the inspiration behind, and the making of, one of the greatest classics of children's literature. Indeed, Winchester shows that Dodgson's love of photography deeply influenced his view of the world, helping to transform this shy and half-deaf mathematician into one of the world's best-loved observers of childhood. Much like the fictional Alice's world, as the photograph is subject to closer examination, 'Alice Liddell as The Beggar Maid' becomes curiouser and curiouser, capturing a moment during a golden afternoon that would endure forever. 'Alice Liddell as The Beggar Maid' was, in short, the muse that would inspire the creation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Deftly engaging with Dogson's published writings, private diaries, and photography, Winchester weaves together the poignant, turbulent, and entirely fascinating story behind Lewis Carroll and the making of his Alice. Acclaim for Simon Winchester "An exceptionally engaging guideat home everywhere, ready for anything, full of gusto and seemingly omnivorous curiosity."--Pico Iyer, The New York Times Book Review "A master at telling a complex story compellingly and lucidly."--USA Today "Extraordinarily graceful."--Time "Winchester is an exquisite writer and a deft anecdoteur."--Christopher Buckley "A lyrical writer and an indefatigable researcher."--Newsweek"-