Ajima Naonobu
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| Born | 1732 |
| Died | May 20, 1798 |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | mathematician |
| Known for | Credited with introducing calculus into Japanese mathematics |
Ajima Naonobu (安島 直円, 1732 – May 20, 1798), also known as Ajima Manzō Chokuyen, was a Japanese mathematician of the Edo period.[1]
His Dharma name was (祖眞院智算量空居士).[2]
Ajima is credited with introducing calculus into Japanese mathematics. The significance of this innovation is diminished by a likelihood that he had access to European writings on the subject.[3] Ajima also posed the question of inscribing three mutually tangent circles in a triangle;[4] these circles are now known as Malfatti circles after the later work of Gian Francesco Malfatti, but two triangle centers derived from them, the Ajima–Malfatti points, are named after Ajima.[5][6]
Ajima was an astronomer at the Shogun's Observatory (Bakufu Temmongaki).[7]
In 1976, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) honored Ajima by identifying a crater on the Moon with his name. Naonobu is a small lunar impact crater located on the eastern Mare Fecunditatis, to the northwest of the prominent crater Langrenus.[8][9]
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Ajima Naonobu, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 20+ works in 30+ publications in two languages and 40+ library holdings.[10]
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