Thread of the Silkworm

by Iris Chang

Book Overview

The definitive biography of Tsien Hsue-Shen, the pioneer of the American space age who was mysteriously accused of being a communist, deported, and became -- to America's continuing chagrin -- the father of the Chinese missile program.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465006787
• ISBN13: 9780465006786
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Observation From Reading Reviews

This is about the review that a guy named "S.Shueh" wrote below. As an example of ridiculous expressions, his sentence: "When someone who is not perfect speaks with authority at such young age...he is bound to place himself above others" is absolutely dumb. That's because no one is perfect, and anyone who speaks with authority regardless of age is always placing himself above others because that's the nature of speaking with authority, duh! If this guy believes that there exists someone who is perfect and can speak with authority without placing himself above others, then he would not be the first such fool speaking such nonsense. Secondly, this S.Shueh guy also says that others have gone through "identical ordeals" as what Tsien went through. So this person doesn't realize that individual experiences are unique and the simple fact that no two persons can have identical experiences because experience is a subjective manifestation of seemingly external events. So it seems that the speaker is someone who grew up in a regimented family and society that cannot tolerate the uniqueness of individuals. Thus, his is only capable of rigid and naive thoughts. This is just my observation of a simpleton of a specific type that I have encountered many many times. So I felt the need to mention it here.

shines a light on a murky time in history

I must admit a bias - HS Tsien is my grandfather's cousin. As such, this book is for me the family history that noone would tell me. For other readers, I would say that most history books concentrate on the rise of the USSR as a power, and then *poof!* there's China...how did that happen? Chang's book reveals how China's emergence on the world stage as a military power resulted from the US's own stupidity and xenophobia. My one real complaint about the book is that Chang's writing seems to drive the book to a climax at the point of Tsien's return to China, and then peeters out while she recounts China's race to the ICBM. This inconsistancy makes one feel that Chang herself had lost interest in the story, which is unfortunate. This story is fascinating enough (for anyone interested in history, not just me) to wish that the entire book had been treated with the care that Chang shows Tsien's US phase. Anyways, one leaves the story with feelings of respect and regret for what could have been. Please note that HS Tsien is still a bogeyman for the US intelligence community - he was mentioned, as Qian Xuesen, in the 1999 Cox report during the Los Alamos spy scandal. As far as I know, HS Tsien is still alive.

Meticulously researched and superbly written...

This is another book written by Iris Chang, author of bestseller "The Rape of Nanking". "Thread of Silkworm" told a fascinating story of a Chinese scientist, Tsien Hsue-Shen, educated in U. S. with great contribution in U. S. rocketry, was falsely accused as a communist and deported back to China in 1950's. Upon return to China, he became the father of Chinese missile program. The book was meticulously researched and superbly written. Iris Chang is a very talented writer; this is evident by this book.

Saga of a rocket scientist worthy of Hollywood

Am I inclined to believe that all foreign born or educated defense scientists (e.g., Tsien and J.R. Oppenheimer) should be presumed "seriously suspect until proven innocent"? If so, to me Chang's book would no doubt leave open the issue whether Tsien had had a Communist leaning, while he was an immigrant in the US from a Nationalist China -- before and during a 'sky rocketting' career which culminated in his roles as JPL Director/Co-Founder; MIT/CalTech full professors; American aerospace pioneer; and a top Pentagon consultant, who grilled Werner von Braun in Germany to write for the US government its report on German aeronautics/rochetry state of the art.To answer my own question, fortunately, I am not -- at least not consciously. So, let me justify my rating.Poignantly told with facts organized like an epic novel, Chang's story is the saga of a gifted and industrious "orphan" from endless wars and feudal corruption in China who came to Uncle Sam's neighborhood for schooling, then contributed greatly to Sam's household, but was spurned from it by house stewards for allegedly associating with "people who condone thievery"; who then continued to work hard to be useful to people who appreciated him (as his ambition had always been) in a new career which he again excelled in, after, in the only remaining option he saw, being taken in by a delighted relative Uncle Mao.As aristocratically brilliant, and yet democratically helpful to students/colleagues he saw as diligent, "why did he embrace the wicked Uncle -- of the proletariat masses of his kins?" you might ask.'Cuz back in Uncle Sam's household, someone made him learn the lesson "You can't fight City Hall and expect to win." How about a harder question, from someone who has actually lived under a Fascist or Communist government?One minor warning, though: Perhaps due to her bilingual upbringing, Chang's sentences are sometimes a bit long and not as colloquial as an impatient American reader might expect of a good novel. I won't throw rocks in my own glass house; so, to me, this quirk does not detract from the book in the slightest. Bear with her through limited technical discussions, and enjoy!Remember Pygmalion in Greek mythology? A king could love the statue of a female figure so much that she came to life, to fall in love with him? If Tsien was innocent of the charge against him in the 50's America (you be the judge after reading Chang's book), isn't Tsien's "second life" as the leader of the successful Chinese ICBM project a modern-day antithesis of Pygmalion. Only this is not a mythical story, but real events which someday (with a chance however remote) may end disastrously for people on both shores of the Northern Pacific! As Chang told us, the decent and kind, President Carter in the 80's by executive decree rescinded the INS order of the 50's for deporting Tsien (in essence saying, "Oops, we made a mistake.") Tsien however is still waiting for

A well written and fascinating tale

Chang has written a spellbinding biography of Tsien Hsue-shen, the father of the Chinese missile program. Meticulously researched and well written. A fascinating story which I find hard to put the book down once started. I highly recommend the book to anyone who interested in modern Chinese history as well as general readers.