In a sense, I think that Professor Twitchett was responding to Needham's project, thinking that there was room for another sort of project that was not the work of an inspired amateur but took a more professional approach.
我現在看來，當時他可能是認為有餘裕做一套專業漢學家的中國歷史，而不只讓業餘天才專美於前吧！經費大減，「學」不聊生