著者

田中 明恵 杉山 滋郎

出版者

日本科学史学会

雑誌

科学史研究 (ISSN:21887535)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.43, no.230, pp.65-73, 2004 (Released:2021-08-12)

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Juichi Obata (1888-1947) was a member of the Electrotechnical Laboratory for approximately ten years, since he graduated from Tokyo Imperial University in 1910. Since 1922, he was with the Aeronautical Research Institute, till the end of WWII. In the history of science, so far Obata has been recognized as a scientist of acoustics. However, we have unveiled another aspect of his study which has not been mentioned in the history of science until now, that is "the measuring of minute vibrations by the electric method. " This paper clarified the following two points : 1) In the early stages of Obata's membership at the Aeronautical Research Institute, before he began his research on sound, he developed an interest in the methods of measuring minute vibrations. He conducted several measurements of minute vibrations by improving the meter that measures minute vibration by the electric method (=using the electronic circuit containing vacuum tube). 2) Thereafter, Obata adopted the approach of exploring "an objective state (vibrating state) through sound, " by paying attention to the correspondence relation between minute vibrations (object), measured using the method of measuring minute vibrations and the sound emitted by the vibrations.