Known for turning the arcane into the interesting, Simon Winchester, author of books about cartographers (The Map that Changed the World) and lexicographers (The Professor and the Madman), turns his attentions to sinologist Joseph Needham. The writer of influential texts on the history of Chinese science and technology, Needham is famous in certain circles but almost completely unknown in others, a situation Winchester apparently aims to rectify with The Man Who Loved China: Joseph Needham and the Making of a Masterpiece. May 26. Premiere Dance Theatre. Also reading: award-winning New Zealand novelist Emily Perkins (Leave Before You Go) with a look at marriage from the husband’s point of view (Novel About My Wife), May 7. Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre.—Brent Ledger