Takebe Kenkō

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Takebe Katahiro (建部 賢弘, 1664 – August 24, 1739), also known as Takebe Kenkō, was a Japanese mathematician and cartographer during the Edo period.[1]

Biography[edit]

Takebe was the favorite student of the Japanese mathematician Seki Takakazu[1] Takebe is considered to have extended and disseminated Seki's work.[2]

In 1706, Takebe was offered a position in the Tokugawa shogunate's department of ceremonies.[1]

In 1719, Takebe's new map of Japan was completed; and the work was highly valued for its quality and detail.[1]

Shōgun Yoshimune honored Takebe with rank and successively better positions in the shogunate.[3]


Legacy[edit]

Takebe played critical role in the development of the Enri (円理, "circle principle") - a crude analogon to the western calculus. He also created charts for trigonometric functions.[4]

He obtained power series expansion of in 1722, 15 years earlier than Euler. This was the first power series expansion obtained in Wasan. This result was first conjectured by heavy numeric computation.

He used Richardson extrapolation in 1695, about 200 years earlier than Richardson.[5]

He also computated 41 digits of , based on polygon approximation and Richardson extrapolation.[6]

Takebe Prizes[edit]

In the context of its 50th anniversary celebrations, the Mathematical Society of Japan established the Takebe Prize and the Takebe Prizes for the encouragement of young people who show promise as mathematicians.[4]

Selected works[edit]

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Takebe Kenko, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 10+ works in 10+ publications in 3 languages and 10+ library holdings.[7]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Smith, David. (1914). A History of Japanese Mathematics, p. 146. , p. 146, at Google Books
  2. ^ "Takebe Katahiro", Encyclopædia Britannica online.
  3. ^ Jochi, Shigeru. (1997). "Takebe Katahiro," Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, p. 932. , p. 932, at Google Books
  4. ^ a b Mathematical Society of Japan, Takebe Prize
  5. ^ Osada, Naoki (Aug 26, 2011). "収束の加速法の歴史 : 17世紀ヨーロッパと日本の加速法 (数学史の研究)" (PDF). Study of the History of Mathematics RIMS Kôkyûroku (in Japanese). 1787: 100–102 – via Kyoto University.
  6. ^ Ogawa, Tsugane (May 13, 1997). "円理の萌芽 : 建部賢弘の円周率計算 : (数学史の研究)" (PDF). Study of the History of Mathematics RIMS Kôkyûroku (in Japanese). 1019: 80–88 – via Kyoto University.
  7. ^ WorldCat Identities: 建部賢弘 1664-1739

References[edit]