Ajima Naonobu

Ajima Naonobu
Born 1732
Died May 20, 1798
Nationality Japanese
Occupation mathematician
Known for Credited with introducing calculus into Japanese mathematics

Ajima Naonobu (安島 直円, 1732 – May 20, 1798), also known as Ajima Manzō Chokuyen, was a Japanese mathematician of the Edo period.[1]

Work

Ajima is credited with introducing calculus into Japanese mathematics. This significance of this innovation is diminished by a likelihood that he had access to European writings on the subject.[2] Ajima also posed the question of inscribing three mutually tangent circles in a triangle;[3] these circles are now known as Malfatti circles after the later work of Gian Francesco Malfatti, but two triangle centers derived from them, the Ajima–Malfatti points, are named after Ajima.[4][5]

Ajima was an astronomer at the Shogun's Observatory (Bakufu Temmongaki).[6]

Legacy

In 1976, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) honored Ajima by identifying a crater on the moon with his name. Naonobu is a small lunar impact crater located on the eastern Mare Fecunditatis, to the northwest of the prominent crater Langrenus.[7][8]

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Ajima Naonobu, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 20+ works in 30+ publications in two languages and 40+ library holdings.[9]

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
  • Ajima Naonobu zenshū (安島直円全集) OCLC 017232052, collected works
  • Sanpō kosō (算法考艸) OCLC 057185881, algorithms considered
  • Jujireki bimmo (Introduction of the 'Works and Days Calendar')[6]
  • Anshi seiyo-reki koso (Ajima's Studies for Western Calendars)[6]
  • Ajima sensei bimmo do jutsu (Methods of Professor Ajima's 'bimmo' )[6]
  • Koshoku mokyu zokkai (Introduction of Eclipses of the Sun and the Moon)[10]
  • Sansha San'en Jutsu (Methods of Three Diagonals and Three Circles)[11]
  • Fujin Isshũ (Periods of Decimal Fractions)[1]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Smith, David. (1914). A History of Japanese Mathematics, pp. 195-205., p. 195, at Google Books
  2. ↑ Restivo, Sal P. (1992). Mathematics in Society and History: Sociological Inquiries, p. 58. , p. 58, at Google Books
  3. ↑ Fukagawa, Hidetoshi; Rothman, Tony (2008), Sacred mathematics: Japanese temple geometry, Princeton University Press, p. 79, ISBN 978-0-691-12745-3 .
  4. ↑ Weisstein, Eric W. "Ajima-Malfatti Points". MathWorld. .
  5. ↑ C. Kimberling, Encyclopedia of Triangle Centers Archived 2012-04-19 at the Wayback Machine., X(179) and X(180).
  6. 1 2 3 4 Jochi, Shigeru. (1997). "Ajima Naonobu," Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, p. 38., p. 38, at Google Books
  7. ↑ United States Geological Survey: Naonobu Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  8. ↑ Naonobu lunar crater (in Japanese)
  9. ↑ WorldCat Identities Archived 2010-12-30 at the Wayback Machine.: 安島直円 1739-1798
  10. ↑ Jochi, pp. 38-39., p. 38, at Google Books
  11. ↑ Jochi, p. 39., p. 39, at Google Books

References

  • Endō Toshisada (1896). History of mathematics in Japan (日本數學史史, Dai Nihon sūgakush). Tōkyō: _____. OCLC 122770600
  • Oya, Shin'ichi. (1970). "Ajima Naonobu" in Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0-684-10114-9
  • Restivo, Sal P. (1992). Mathematics in Society and History: Sociological Inquiries. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7923-1765-4; OCLC 25709270
  • Selin, Helaine. (1997). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Dordrecht: Kluwer/Springer. ISBN 978-0-7923-4066-9; OCLC 186451909
  • David Eugene Smith and Yoshio Mikami. (1914). A History of Japanese Mathematics. Chicago: Open Court Publishing. OCLC 1515528 -- note alternate online, full-text copy at archive.org
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.