Qian Baocong

Qian Baocong ( Chinese  銭 宝 琮 , Pinyin Qián Bǎocóng ; born May 29, 1892 in Jiaxing , † January 5, 1974 in Suzhou ) was a Chinese mathematician.

Qian studied architecture at the Railway School in Suzhou and at the University of Birmingham (graduated in 1910) and one year at the Polytechnic in Manchester . In 1912 he went back to China, where he taught at a technical school in Suzhou (Industrial College), then at Nankai University , Central University and Zhejiang University , where he became professor and head of the mathematics faculty. In 1956, he became a senior scientist in the history of science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Qian was a pioneer of Chinese mathematics historiography with Li Yan , which he has published since 1921. His main work is the edition of the "Ten Mathematical Classics" of medieval Chinese mathematics ( Suanjing shi shu , 1963 in Beijing). In addition to monographs on Chinese mathematics, he also wrote on the history of Chinese astronomy (calendar calculation, star maps), music theory and mechanics. A selection of his essays appeared in 1983. The first volume of his Chinese history of mathematics appeared in 1930.

He was a member of the Chinese Society for Academic Studies and Arts (1921), the Chinese Astronomical Society (1927), the Chinese Mathematical Society (1936) and the Chinese Society of Sciences (1923). He received an honorary doctorate (D. Sc.) From the University of Birmingham.

literature

• Dauben, Scriba (editor): Writing the history of mathematics , Birkhäuser 2002