was a 19th-century Japanese scholar of Western studies, or "

Rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: /Shinjitai: , literally "Dutch learning", and by extension "Western learning") is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of West ...

". In 1837, he published the first volume of his , a compilation of scientific books in Dutch, which describes a wide range of scientific knowledge from the West. Most of the Dutch original material appears to be derived from William Henry's 1799 ''Elements of Experimental Chemistry''. In particular, the book contains a very detailed description of the electric battery invented by Volta forty years earlier in 1800. The battery itself was constructed by Udagawa in 1831 and used in experiments, including medical ones, based on a belief that electricity could help cure illnesses. Udagawa's ''Science of Chemistry'' also reports for the first time in details the findings and theories of Lavoisier in Japan. Accordingly, Udagawa made numerous scientific experiments and created new scientific terms, which are still in current use in modern scientific Japanese: e.g., , , , , , , , and . Image:Seimikaisou.jpg, A description of a Volta battery in ''Introduction to Chemistry'' (''Seimi Kaisō''), published in 1840. Image:SeimiKaisouChemistry.jpg, Chemical experiments in ''Introduction to Chemistry'' (''Seimi Kaisō'').

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舎密開宗
PDF files of ''Seimi Kaisō'' provided by the library of

Nakamura Gakuen University is a private university in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Ja ...

(Japanese) 1798 births 1846 deaths Japanese scientists Japanese naturalists Rangaku 19th-century Japanese chemists {{japan-scientist-stub