Li Ye

Li Ye (Chinese: 李冶; Wade–Giles: Li Yeh; 1192–1279), born Li Zhi (Chinese: 李治), courtesy name Li Jingzhai (Chinese: 李敬斋), was a Chinese mathematician and writer who published and improved the tian yuan shu method for solving polynomial equations of one variable. Along with the 4th-century Chinese astronomer Yu Xi, Li Ye is one of the few Chinese mathematicians to propose the idea of a spherical Earth instead of a flat one before the arrival of European science in China during the 17th century.