Person: Shimura, Goro
Goro Shimura was a Japanese mathematician who worked on algebraic geometry.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- There had been food shortages during the war but, after the war ended, the shortages became worse and Shimura was constantly hungry.
- In 1946 Shimura entered the First High School.
- Shimura began his studies at the University of Tokyo in 1949.
- The course Shimura enjoyed most was taught by Kenkichi Iwasawa, but again Shimura is critical saying that Iwasawa "was lecturing for himself, not for the students".
- The second event that Shimura considers began his mathematical career was his attendance at a conference on algebraic geometry and number theory in March 1953 organised by Yasuo Akizuki at Kyoto University.
- Akizuki was building a strong School of Algebraic Geometry in Kyoto and he asked Shimura to talk at the conference, which was also attended by Yutaka Taniyama.
- In 1954 Shimura was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, being promoted to associate professor in 1957.
- Shimura presented his paper On complex multiplications to the International Symposium and, probably as a result of meeting Weil, Shimura received an invitation from him in 1956 to spend the academic year 1957-58 in Paris.
- The Paris trip was memorable for Shimura.
- At the end of his ten-month Paris visit, Shimura spent seven months at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.
- Weil had been appointed as a professor at Princeton so Shimura remained in contact with Weil during this visit.
- The opportunity arose when André Weil visited Japan in 1961 and Shimura asked him if it would be possible to find a position for him in the United States.
- Weil arranged a position at Princeton and, in September 1962, Shimura returned to Princeton but this time he was attached to the University, not the Institute for Advanced Study where he had spent time earlier in his career.
- Shimura's next book Abelian varieties with complex multiplication and modular functions (1998) was an expanded edition of his 1961 text Complex multiplication of abelian varieties and its applications to number theory co-authored with Yutaka Taniyama.
- Since Taniyama had died in 1958, even the 1961 text had been largely due to Shimura incorporating the new understanding that he had achieved during his Paris visit.
- Of course the area had developed markedly between 1961 and 1998 (with considerable contributions by Shimura) so it will come as no surprise to learn that he added 17 new sections for the 1998 monograph.
- In 2000 Shimura published Arithmeticity in the theory of automorphic forms and then, in 2004, Arithmetic and analytic theories of quadratic forms and Clifford groups.
- Not all of Shimura's publications are on mathematics, however.
- In "The Story of Imari", author Goro Shimura describes the cultural and historical significance of these prized porcelain bowls, plates, vases, teacups, and other wares.
- Examining the artistry and stories behind specific pieces, Shimura analyses their glazes, patterns, motifs, and functions, weaving in tales of emperors, tea ceremonies, cranes, surfing rabbits, and more.
- Finally let us mention Shimura's love of shogi, a Japanese form of chess played on a 9 × 9 board.
Born 23 February 1930, Hamamatsu, Japan. Died 3 May 2019, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Origin Japan, Number Theory
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
