Seki was born into a samurai warrior family, the second son of Nagaakira Utiyama, but was adopted as a young boy by another noble family, the Seki Gorozayemon.

He was a self-educated child prodigy in mathematics from the age of nine. He studied determinants and Bernoulli numbers, and was the first in Japan to write on magic squares. He also studied Diophantine equations and the calculus. In some areas his work predates that of Europeans now credited with priority (e.g., Bernoulli numbers). He was also a renowned teacher and the examiner of accounts to the Lord of Koshu.

References

Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, 1993-97
Dictionary of Scientific Biography
Mikami, Yoshio. The Development of Mathematics in China and Japan. (New York: Chelsea Pub. Co., 1961)
Yosida, K. "A Brief Biography of Takakazu Seki (1642?-1708)," The Mathematical Intelligencer 3 (1981), pp. 121-22
"Takakazu Seki Kowa." [Includes portrait]. Available at: http://www.math.bme.hu/mathhist/Mathematicians/Seki.html
O'Connor, J.J. and Robertson, E.F. "Takakazu Seki Kowa." [Includes portrait]. Available at: http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Seki.html

Indexes

Asian
Japan
18th Century
Science, Parascience
Pre-school Years
Wealthy, Famous, Noble or Divine Adoptive or Foster Families
Adoptees/Fosterees from Wealthy, Famous, Noble or Divine Birth Families