Iwahashi Zenbei
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese scientist and optician.
in a merchant family, became independent to be an optician, then was interested in natural science and learned scientific methodology and physics from Minagawa Kien, a scholar of I Ching
, in Kyoto
. He observed movements of the sun, the moon, stars, and developed an instrument to calculate the movements of celestial bodies and tides called ‘Heitengi’ (平天儀) in 1801 and wrote the theoretical book of astronomy called ‘Heitengi zukai’ (平天儀図解) in 1802.
Zenbei researched some imported optical instruments, then in 1793, made his first telescope. It had quite a good reputation then he made many telescopes of Galileo type and Kepler type, which widely used among astronomers and feudal rulers
. His descendants became telescope makers for four generations.
Zenbei Land, an education center for astronomy and its history named in honor of Zenbei, equipped with a 600 mm diameter newtonian/cassegrain reflector, has been open to public since 1992 by Kaizuka municipal government.
An asteroid 7538 Zenbei
was named after him.
Biography
He was born in Kaizuka, OsakaKaizuka, Osaka
is a city located in Osaka, Japan on Osaka Bay, southwest of the prefectural capital of Osaka.-Geography:Located in the southern part of Izumi Region in Osaka Prefecture....
in a merchant family, became independent to be an optician, then was interested in natural science and learned scientific methodology and physics from Minagawa Kien, a scholar of I Ching
I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...
, in Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
. He observed movements of the sun, the moon, stars, and developed an instrument to calculate the movements of celestial bodies and tides called ‘Heitengi’ (平天儀) in 1801 and wrote the theoretical book of astronomy called ‘Heitengi zukai’ (平天儀図解) in 1802.
Zenbei researched some imported optical instruments, then in 1793, made his first telescope. It had quite a good reputation then he made many telescopes of Galileo type and Kepler type, which widely used among astronomers and feudal rulers
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
. His descendants became telescope makers for four generations.
Zenbei Land, an education center for astronomy and its history named in honor of Zenbei, equipped with a 600 mm diameter newtonian/cassegrain reflector, has been open to public since 1992 by Kaizuka municipal government.
An asteroid 7538 Zenbei
7538 Zenbei
7538 Zenbei is a main-belt asteroid discovered on November 15, 1996 by amateur astronomer Takao Kobayashi at Oizumi, Gunma, Japan.It was named after Zenbei Iwahashi, a Japanese optician in 18th century.- External links :*...
was named after him.