Takebe Katahiro was born in 1664 at Edo (now Tokyo). His father, Takebe Naotsune, was a Yuhitsu (secretary) of the Shogun. In 1676, when he was 13 years old, he and his elder brother Takebe Kataaki (1661–1716) became pupils of SEKI Kowa (d. 1708) and studied mathematics. The Takebe brothers and Seki Kowa were colleagues in the Shogun's government, and their families were the same rank: 300 koku. Footnote 1
Takebe's mathematical works are in three fields. One concerns completing the tenzan‐jutsu or endan‐jutsu (lit. addition and subtraction methods, Japanese algebra system), which was created by Seki Kowa. In the second work Takebe created the tetsu‐jutsu (inductive methods). Using these methods he obtained the formula of (arcsin θ) 2. In the third, for computing the approximate value of fractions, he solved the Diophanine equations using the reiyaku‐jutsu (continual division method). Takebe also worked in astronomy and geography.
In 1683, Takebe wrote his first work, Kenki Sampo...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
His annual salary was 300 pyo (1 pyo was 60 kgs of rice), which is the same as a landlord of 300 person village.
References
Fujiwara, Matsusaburo. Meiji‐zen Nihon Sugakushi (Mathematics in Japan before the Meiji Era). 5 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1954.
Hirayama, Akira et al. eds. Seki Kowa Zenshi. Osaka: Osaka Kyoiku Tosho, 1974.
Mikami, Yoshio. The Development of Mathematics in China and Japan. 2nd ed. New York: Chelsea, 1913.
Shimodaira, Kazuo. Wasan no Rekishi (History of Japanese Mathematics in the Edo Period). 2 vols. Tokyo: Fuji Junior College Press, 1965–1970.
Takebe Kataaki. Rokkaku Sasaki Yamanouchi‐ryu Takebe‐shi Denki (Biographies of Takebe Families). Edo, 1715.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Shigeru, J. (2008). Takebe Katahiro. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_8875
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_8875
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-4559-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4425-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law