Descriptive geometry in middle school mathematics teaching in Japan (1905-1946)

Abstract

Teaching of descriptive geometry began in 18th-century France and became widespread in tertiary and secondary education worldwide throughout the 19th century. Until the 20th century, educators often described two aims of descriptive geometry – technical education and mathematics education. In Japan, descriptive geometry was introduced into engineering and artistic higher education after the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Descriptive geometry became part of the general secondary school curriculum in the 1880s, but it had been taught under the auspices of arts and crafts education rather than mathematics. In the early 20th century, Japanese mathematics educators began to focus on descriptive geometry as a way to reform solid geometry. When Japan’s secondary school curriculum was revised in 1942, descriptive geometry was included in solid geometry and mathematics for the first time. Although this curriculum lasted only until 1946, it was the fruit of many educators’ labors and is worthy of examination. This paper examines several books and documents from the early 20th-century Japan and shows that there was a technical, mathematics-oriented debate about the aim of descriptive geometry teaching as seen in Europe. Keywords: descriptive geometry, solid geometry, secondary school, middle school, Nobutaro Nabeshima, Minoru Kuroda