Bøger i Science Networks. Historical Studies serien

Presents the features of the Wasan tradition, which is the indigenous mathematics that developed in Japan during the Edo period (1600-1868). This work offers a description of the mathematical textbooks published in the 17th century, then shifts to the work of the two leading mathematicians of this tradition, Seki Takakazu and Takebe Katahiro.

Philanthropic societies funded by the Rockefeller family were prominent in the social history of the twentieth century, for their involvement in medicine and applied science. This book provides the first detailed study of their relatively brief but nonetheless influential foray into the field of mathematics.

The Twenty-First International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) was held in Kyoto, Japan, from August 21 through 29, 1990, the first congress that has taken place in the Eastern hemisphere. On this occasion, Japanese historians of mathe­ matics organized the History of Mathematics Symposium which was held at the Sanjo Conference Hall of the University of Tokyo on August 31 and September 1, as one of the related conferences of the Congress. The symposium was officially sponsored by the Executive Committee of the ICM 90, the History of Science So­ ciety of Japan, and the International Commission on the History of Mathematics. The Executive Committee consisted of Murata Tamotsu (Chairperson, Momoyama Gakuin University), Sugiura Mitsuo (Vice-Chairperson, Tsuda College), Sasaki Chikara (Secretary, The University of Tokyo), Adachi Norio (Waseda University), Nagaoka Ryosuke (Tsuda College until 1990, now Daito Bunka University), and Hirano Yoichi (Treasurer, Tokai University). The symposium emphasized the following three fields of study: (1) mathe­ matical traditions in the East, (2) the history of modern European mathematics, and (3) interaction between mathematical research and the history of mathemat­ ics. These fields were chosen mainly because, first, the symposium was related to the ICM, the most important congress of working mathematicians, and, second, the Kyoto ICM was held in a non-Western country for the first time. The sym­ posium consisted of the two Sessions: Session A for invited speakers and Session B for short communications.

This first of three volumes starts with a short introduction to historical metrology as a scientific discipline and goes on with an anthology of acient and modern measurement systems of all kind, scientific measures, units of time, weights, currencies etc.

Matvei Bronstein was one of those for whom the vast territory of theoretical physics was as familiar as his own home: he worked in cosmology, nuclear physics, gravitation, semiconductors, atmospheric physics, quantum electrodynamics, astro physics and the relativistic quantum theory.

Volterra's interest in the application of mathematics to the non physical sciences, and to biology and economics in particular, dates back to the turn of the century and was expressed in his inaugural address at the University of Rome for the academic year 1900/01 (VOLTERRA 1901).

George Boole (1815-1864) is well known to mathematicians for his research and textbooks on the calculus, but his name has spread world-wide for his innovations in symbolic logic and the development and applications made since his day.

The controversy between the wave theory and the emission theory of light early in the nineteenth century has been a subject of numerous studies. It examines the impact of the concept of interference of light on the development of the early nineteenth century optics in general, and the theory of light, in particular.

The Latin "Version II", till now attributed to Adelard of Bath, is edited here for the first time. But a comparison of the text of version II with those of versions I and III yields little or no reason to assume that Adelard was the author of version II. Version II must have been written later than version I and before version III;

The significance of foundational debate in mathematics that took place in the 1920s seems to have been recognized only in circles of mathematicians and philosophers. A period in the history of mathematics when mathematics and philosophy, usually so far away from each other, seemed to meet.

The significance of foundational debate in mathematics that took place in the 1920s seems to have been recognized only in circles of mathematicians and philosophers. A period in the history of mathematics when mathematics and philosophy, usually so far away from each other, seemed to meet.