The Emperor's New Mathematics: Western Learning and Imperial Authority During the Kangxi Reign (1662-1722)

Jami explores how the emperor Kangxi solidified the Qing dynasty in seventeenth-century China through the appropriation of the 'Western learning', and especially the mathematics, of Jesuit missionaries. This book details not only the history of mathematical ideas, but also their political and cultural impact.

Catherine Jami is a Director of Research at the French CNRS (SPHERE, Universite de Paris-Diderot). She originally trained as a mathematician, and then in Chinese studies. In the past she has served as presidents for both the International Society for the History of East Asian Science, Technology and Medicine and the Association Francaise d'Etudes Chinoises. She was also treasurer for the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science (ICSU). Starting with her book 'Les Methodes Rapides pour la Trigonometrie et le Rapport Precis du Cercle (1774): tradition chinoise et apport occidental en mathematiques' (1990), she has published extensively on mathematics in seventeenth and eighteenth century China, as well as on the Jesuit missionaries and the reception of the sciences they introduced to late Ming and early Qing China.