FromIsolationEmergesaMathematicsGenius
StoriesfromJapaninanewseminarintheSISSAseriesonHistoryandScience
6December2016,4:00pm
SISSA,Room005
ViaBonomea265,Trieste
ItiswellknownthatJapanwasforciblyisolatedfromtherestoftheworldfromthebeginningof
the17thcenturytothemid-19thcentury.Whatfewpeopleknow,however,isthatduringthat
periodoftime,inspiteof,orperhapsbecauseofthis,thecountryoftheRisingSundevelopedits
ownformofmathematicswithparticularfeaturesaswellasstrikingsimilaritiestowhatwas
happeningintherestoftheworld.DonZagier,aprofessorattheMaxPlanckInstituteinBonn
andtheInternationalCentreforTheoreticalPhysics(ICTP)inTrieste,willgivethesecondlecture
intheseriesofseminarsontheHistoryofScienceorganizedbyTheInterdisciplinaryLaboratory
(ILAS)atSISSAon6December2016at4:00pm.Thelecture:TheEmergenceofanIndependent
JapaneseMathematicisFreeandopentothepublic.ItwillbeheldinEnglish.
Nearlytwoandahalfcenturiesofisolationcanproduceextraordinaryresults.Thiswasthecasein
Japanwhen,fromthebeginningofthe1600’s,itwasclosedofffromtheworld,lettinginonlya
fewrareDutchships(oneperyear)andpreventingitscitizensfromleavingthecountryunder
threatofcapitalpunishment,until1854whenitwasforcedtoopenitsborders.Onewould
assumethatculturalandscientificlifecouldnotthriveinsuchisolation,yet,duringthisvery
periodJapandevelopeditsown"indigenous"formofmathematics,knownasWasan.In
particular,twomajorJapanesemathematicians,SekiandhisstudentTakebe,mademanyofthe
samediscoveriesasBernoulli,Leibniz,EulerandothersintheWest,butinanearly
unrecognizableform.
DonZagierwillspeakaboutthisfascinatingphenomenoninafreepublicseminartobeheldat
SISSAonDecember6.ZagierisanAmericanmathematician(borninGermany)whoworksinthe
fieldofnumbertheoryandisaDirectorattheMaxPlanckInstituteforMathematicsinBonn,as
wellasaDistinguishedStaffAssociateatICTP.Zagierwasaprecocioustalent,studyingatMITin
Bostonwhenhewasonly14yearsoldandbecomingaProfessoratage24.Amongother
positions,hehasalsoheldaprofessorshipattheCollègedeFranceinParis.
AlleventsintheHistoryofScienceseriesorganizedbytheInterdisciplinaryLaboratoryofSISSA
arefreeandopentothepublicanddonotrequirereservations.TheserieswillcontinueuntilMay
2017,withoneseminarpermonthfeaturingItalianandinternationalexperts.
Formoreinformation:https://www.sissa.it/news/seminars-history-science-sissaoremail
[email protected]:0403787549,401.
USEFULLINKS:
• Programmeandotherinformation:https://www.sissa.it/news/seminars-history-science-sissa
• DonZagier’stalkabstract:https://goo.gl/dN8gKB
IMAGE:
• Credits:Momotarou2012(WikimediaCommons:https://goo.gl/yPhKdh)
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