Nathan Sivin

Nathan Sivin (born 11 May 1931), also known as Xiwen (Chinese: 席文), is an American author, scholar, sinologist, historian, essayist, and currently professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in Philadelphia with his wife, the artist Carole Sivin.

The major areas of study and focus in Nathan Sivin's career and written publications have been in the history of science and technology in China, Traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese philosophy, and Chinese religious beliefs. He speaks four different foreign languages and has traveled abroad to many countries, on four continents, numerous times since the 1960s. In his written works he has also collaborated with many other prominent scholars, such as G.E.R. Lloyd, A.C. Graham and Joseph Needham.

From 1954 until 1956, Sivin was enrolled in an 18-month language program for Chinese at the U.S. Army Language School. He then went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in humanities with a chemistry minor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958. He received his A.M. in the history of science at Harvard University in 1960, and his Ph.D. in the history of science at Harvard University in 1966. He received an honorary M.A. at the University of Pennsylvania.