SEKI Takakazu, His Mathematical Works, and His Social and Historical Contexts

SATO Ken'ichi

This paper discusses a reconsideration of the history of Japanese mathematics in the Edo period (1603-1868) from the viewpoint of social context, and also explores the problems of historical materials of Japanese mathematics, focusing on the subject of SEKI Takakazu 関孝和 (?-1708). The historical background of the appearance and development of Japanese mathematics in the Edo period was, to some extent, caused by geopolitical and geographical factors that occurred at that time around the islands of Japan. In particular, not only was there a competitive spirit among domestic mathematicians, but political orders, such as the drawing of the kuniezu 国絵図 map by bakufu 幕府, also intensively motivated and stimulated these mathematicians. The historical characteristics of mathematics of SEKI Takakazu were not outside the realm of traditional East Asian mathematics, although his mathematics was independent from that seen in mainstream of China and Korea at the time. Traditional Japanese mathematics frequently adopted academic information from both of these areas, but SEKI and his successors never dispatched their achievements abroad. They constructed their own system of mathematics that remained isolated from the continent. However, in order to evaluate SEKI's mathematics properly, we have to perform not just a comparative survey among the mathematics of other areas, but also a bibliographical analysis of the available historical materials. We need to recognize that there were revised versions of the Hatsubi Sanpo and of the Katsuyo Sanpo.

SEKI Takakazu, His Mathematical Works, and His Social and Historical Contexts

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