was a Japanese theoretical physicist, known for

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasma (physics), plasmas) and the forces on them. Originally applied to water (hydromechanics), it found applications in a wide range of discipl ...

and

mathematical physics Mathematical physics is the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the de ...

. Imai was born on 7 October 1914 in

Dairen Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...

. A few years later, his family returned to

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, where he spent his childhood. He skipped one grade in elementary school and another in middle school, and he entered the First Higher School. He proceeded to the Imperial University of Tokyo, majoring in physics, and graduated at the age of 21. Upon his graduation in 1936, he was appointed assistant to Susumu Tomotika in the newly established Imperial University of Osaka. Two years later, he returned to the Imperial University of Tokyo as a lecturer, and in 1942 was promoted to assistant professor. From 1950, he was professor of physics in the faculty of science until his official retirement from the University of Tokyo in 1975. He was concurrently a member of the Aeronautical Research Institute, the University of Tokyo (1938–1964). He was also visiting professor at a number of overseas universities, the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

(1955–1957), Aix-Marseille University (1960), D.V.L. Aachen (1961–1962),

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

(1965–1966, 1977), and the Technical University of Aachen (1969). On his retirement from the University of Tokyo, he became professor emeritus and moved to Osaka University as professor of mechanical engineering in the faculty of engineering science (1975–1978), and then to Kogakuin University (1978–1987), where he got the title of professor emeritus. In 1994 he became an academician of the Japan Academy.

Notes

Selected literature

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Imai, Isao 1914 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Japanese physicists Laureates of the Imperial Prize Japanese mathematical physicists Academic staff of Osaka University Japanese theoretical physicists University of Tokyo alumni Academic staff of the University of Tokyo Japanese expatriates in China Presidents of the Physical Society of Japan