Blaschke, Osgood, Wiener, Hadamard and the Early Development of Modern Mathematics in China

TL;DR

This paper explores the history of early modern mathematics development in China, focusing on influential visits by prominent European and American mathematicians in the 1930s and their impact on Chinese mathematical progress.

Contribution

It provides a detailed historical account of the visits by key Western mathematicians to China and their influence on the development of modern mathematics in China.

Findings

Visits by Blaschke, Birkhoff, Wiener, Hadamard significantly impacted Chinese mathematics.

Chinese universities established modern mathematics departments starting in 1913.

International mathematicians' visits fostered cultural and scientific exchange in China.

Abstract

In ancient times, China made great contributions to world civilization and in particular to mathematics. However, modern sciences including mathematics came to China rather too late. The first Chinese university was founded in 1895. The first mathematics department in China was formally opened at the university only in 1913. At the beginning of the twentieth century, some Chinese went to Europe, the United States of America and Japan for higher education in modern mathematics and returned to China as the pioneer generation. They created mathematics departments at the Chinese universities and sowed the seeds of modern mathematics in China. In 1930s, when a dozen of Chinese universities already had mathematics departments, several leading mathematicians from Europe and USA visited China, including Wilhelm Blaschke, George D. Birkhoff, William F. Osgood, Norbert Wiener and Jacques Hadamard. Their visits not only had profound impact on the mathematical development in China, but also became social events sometimes. This paper tells the history of their visits.