On behalf of the Conference Co-Organizers, I am honored to warmly welcome you to Hong Kong, trust that your stay here will be a most pleasant, safe, and rewarding one, and that you will find time to explore the rich cultural heritage of Hong Kong, intellectually and culturally before your departure!

The Conference will focus firstly on the Needham's Dialogical Vision: Understanding Science as a Multi-Civilizational Outcome as presented by over 20 distinguished scholars in the field at HKUST during the first 2 days. The themes are to explore the rise of Modern Science, not just Western- centric, but a mixture of ancient Chinese, Indian, Arabic and Persian and other civilizations. The planned multi-panel discussions should offer excellent platforms for wholesome intellectual discussions.

The Conference will end with The 13^th Joseph Needham Memorial Lecture Series on the third day, 25 March 2023 at the Hong Kong Palace Museum for the particular reasons below.

During his ice-breaking visit to China in 1943-46, Dr. Needham together with his then newly hired assistant H.T. Huang (Huang went to Oxford in 1944, received his PhD and eventually a close collaborator the SCC Vol.6: Food Fermentation Technology; also served as Deputy Director of the Needham Research Institute in the late 1980s) embarked on a long and strenuous trip to Dunhuang in a charcoal-fired truck that frequently broke down along the rough terrains.

The Dunhuang trip contributed immensely to Dr. Needham's conversion from his active biochemical research into the studies of ancient Chinese science and technology, origins of the monumental series Science and Civilisation in China.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we are indebted to the generous financial support from the Bei Shan Tang Foundation, Croucher Foundation, and Jao Studies Foundation. Moreover, we would like to express our appreciation to The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for co-hosting the Needham Conference and the Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole and the Hong Kong Palace Museum for co-organizing the 13^th Joseph Needham Memorial Lectures.

Peter L. Lee, Ph.D.
Chairman, Joseph Needham Foundation for Science & Civilisation (JNFSC) &
Conference Organizing Committee