Japanese Temple Geometry

Time: 2:45-4:15pm

Location: Mendel Hall, Room 154, Villanova University

Abstract: During the Edo Period (1600-1868), Japan was largely isolated from the outside world by decree of the shogun. During that time, Japanese mathematics began to develop and took a path distinctly different from that of Western mathematics. People from all walks of life--professional mathematicians, farmers, merchants, women and children--painted geometry problems on large wooden tablets called sangaku and hung them in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. many of these problems were quite simple and can be solved by today's high school students, while others are extremely challenging and require advanced methods; a few remain unsolved to the present day. Several well-known Western theorems were anticipated or independently discovered by Japanese geometers. The sangaku are themselves works of art and quite beautiful. Dr. Rothman presents a historical-geometric talk based on his book Sacred Mathematics: Japenese Temple Geometry.