Vibrant capital boosts science popularization for young, old

Editor's note: Beijing's determination to innovate is helping to transform it into a major high-tech center. The capital offers a range of opportunities designed to unleash the creative genius of technology specialists and enable it to achieve its full potential. China Daily takes an in-depth look.

In August 1952, an astronomy exhibition in Beijing introduced China's ancient astronomy achievements and modern knowledge to the capital's residents. "Long live Chinese astronomy," Joseph Needham, the British scientist and historian, wrote in his congratulations to the event - the first recorded science popularization event in Beijing after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Needham traveled across China from 1942 to 1946 to research science history. After returning to Europe, he finished the influential paper Science and Civilization in China.