taking the long view examines the life of a remarkable mathematician whose classical chinese philosophical ideas helped him build bridges between china and the west. shiing-shen chern (1911-2004) is one of the fathers of modern differential geometry. his work at the institute for advanced study and in china during and after world war ii led to his teaching at the university of chicago in 1949. next came berkeley, where he created a world-renowned center of geometry, and in 1981 cofounded the mathematical sciences research institute. during the 1980s he brought talented chinese scholars to the united states and europe. by 1986, with chinese government support, he established a math institute at nankai university in tianjin. today it is called the chern institute of mathematics.