Kyoto University Library Network

A new collection "Mathematics in Classics (Dep. Math.)" of 592 books has been released. This collection consists of books on Wasan, or Japanese mathematics, including astronomy, Chinese classics, as well as Western mathematics held by the Department of Mathematics, Mathematics Library, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University.

▼Mathematics in Classics (Dep. Math.)

Wasan, or Japanese mathematics, developed in Japan independently from the Western mathematics, through the Edo Period and the Meiji Era. It has fostered many math enthusiasts among general Japanese people and a custom called Sangaku hono (算額奉納), dedication of Ema (votive picture of a horse) to shrines when difficult problems were solved, became popular. The collection includes Jinko-ki (塵劫記), an introductory book that triggered enthusiasm in mathematics among Japanese people, and Katsuyo Sanpo (括要算法), a posthumous collection of Seki Takakazu's works.

Many books that have played significant roles in the progress of Western mathematics are also available: Euclid's Elementorum, Apollonius’s Conicorum, and Diophantus’s Arithmeticorum (our holding is the same edition as the one on which Fermat wrote the famous "Last Theorem" in the margin). Anyone who is interested in mathematics can enjoy the development of mathematics through these books.

The digital archive provides 1,262,613 images of 14,162 titles as of October 30, 2019.

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