was a Japanese

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and historian of ''

Japanese mathematics denotes a distinct kind of mathematics which was developed in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1867). The term ''wasan'', from ''wa'' ("Japanese") and ''san'' ("calculation"), was coined in the 1870s and employed to distinguish native Japanese ...

''. He was born February 16, 1875, in Kotachi,

Hiroshima prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...

. He attended the High School of

Tohoku University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated National ...

, and in 1911 was admitted to the

Imperial University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

. He studied history of Japanese and Chinese mathematics. In 1913, he published "The Development of Mathematics in China and Japan" in Leipzig.Yoshio Mikami, The Development of Mathematics in China and Japan, 1913, Library of Congress 61-13497 This book consisted of two parts with 47 chapters. Part one has 21 chapters that describe in depth several important Chinese mathematicians and mathematical classics including

Liu Hui Liu Hui () was a Chinese mathematician who published a commentary in 263 CE on ''Jiu Zhang Suan Shu (The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art).'' He was a descendant of the Marquis of Zixiang of the Eastern Han dynasty and lived in the state ...

, Shen Kuo,

Qin Jiushao Qin Jiushao (, ca. 1202–1261), courtesy name Daogu (道古), was a Chinese mathematician, meteorologist, inventor, politician, and writer. He is credited for discovering Horner's method as well as inventing Tianchi basins, a type of rain gau ...

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The ...

The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art ''The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art'' () is a Chinese mathematics book, composed by several generations of scholars from the 10th–2nd century BCE, its latest stage being from the 2nd century CE. This book is one of the earliest sur ...

Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections The ''Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections'' () is a mathematical text written by Chinese Southern Song dynasty mathematician Qin Jiushao in the year 1247. The mathematical text has a wide range of topics and is taken from all aspects of th ...

, Li Ye,

Zhu Shijie Zhu Shijie (, 1249–1314), courtesy name Hanqing (), pseudonym Songting (), was a Chinese mathematician and writer. He was a Chinese mathematician during the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu was born close to today's Beijing. Two of his mathematical works ha ...

and study on π. Part II deals with important ''wasan'' mathematicians and their works, including

Kambei Mori Kambei Mori or , also known as Mōri Kambei Shigeyoshi , was a Japanese mathematician in the Edo period. Life and work Some 16th-century sources suggest that Mori studied in China, but such claims are inconclusive or rejected by historians. Wh ...

, Yoshida Koyu,

Kowa Seki , Selin, Helaine. (1997). ''Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures,'' p. 890 also known as ,Selin, was a Japanese mathematician and author of the Edo period. Seki laid foundations for the subs ...

Imamura Chisho Imamura (, ''kanji'' characters for "now" and "village") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese seismologist * Ayaka Imamura (born 1993), Japanese voice actress * Fumihiko Imamura (born 1961), Japanese academic ...

, Takahara Kisshu, Kurushima, Ajima Chokuyen,

Aida Ammei also known as Aida Ammei, was a Japanese mathematician in the Edo period. He made significant contributions to the fields of number theory and geometry, and furthered methods for simplifying continued fractions. Aida created an original symbol ...

Shiraishi Chochu Shiraishi (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Ashima Shiraishi (born 2001), American rock climber *Fuyumi Shiraishi *, Japanese actress and voice actress *Hitomi Shiraishi *, Japanese film and television dir ...

, Skabe Kohan, and

Hagiwara Teisuke Hagiwara (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * (also known as Sho-Ken), the lead singer of The Tempters *, Japanese pop singer *, San Francisco landscape designer often credited with inventing the fortune coo ...

. He died on December 31, 1950, in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

References

External links

David Eugene Smith David Eugene Smith (January 21, 1860 – July 29, 1944) was an American mathematician, educator, and editor. Education and career David Eugene Smith is considered one of the founders of the field of mathematics education. Smith was born in Cortl ...

, Yoshio Mikami
A History of Japanese Mathematics
Open Court Publishing, Chicago 1914 20th-century Japanese mathematicians 20th-century Japanese historians University of Tokyo alumni 1875 births 1950 deaths Historians of mathematics {{Asia-mathematician-stub