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Report to the International Mathematical Union 2000

By Kirsti Andersen and Jeanne Peiffer

from the Bulletin of the International Mathematical Union, No. 46, December 2000

Christoph J. Scriba and Joseph W. Dauben have almost finished the editorial work on Writing the History of Mathematics: Its Historical Development. This book, which has been prepared under the patronage of the ICHM, collects chapters on the historiography of the history of mathematics in different parts of the world, biographical notes on important historians of mathematics, and bibliographical information. It will be published in the "Science Network" series of Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel.

For the XXI International Congress of History of Science and Technology (Mexico City, July 8-14, 2001) with the theme "Science and Cultural Diversity," the ICHM has decided to support the following symposia proposals:

  1. "Mission et diffusion des sciences européennes - en Amérique et en Asie: le cas jésuite" (organized by Eberhard Knobloch, Berlin and Antonella Romano, Paris).
  2. "Foundations and Practice in the History of Mathematics" (organized by Craig Fraser, Toronto).
  3. "Encounter of Greek Mathematics with Mathematics as Developed in the 16th and 17th Centuries in Europe" (organized by Ivo Schneider, München).
  4. "On the History of the Relationship between French and German Mathematics" (organized by Ulf Hashagen, Paderborn)
  5. "Precolumbian Mathematics" (organized by Ubi D'Ambrosio, São Paulo, Michael Closs, Ottawa, Alejandro R. Garciadiego, Mexico City, and Sergio Nobre, Rio Clara)
  6. "Colonial Mathematics 1500-1800" (organized by Alejandro R. Garciadiego, Mexico City, Sergio Nobre, Rio Clara, and Luis Saraiva, Lisbon)
  7. "Contemporary mathmatics" (organized by Alejandro R. Garciadiego, Mexico City, Sergio Nobre, Rio Clara, Eduardo Ortiz, London and Mario Otero, Montevideo)

ICHM is also represented by Kirsti Andersen in the programme committee for the entire conference.

In 2000 the first steps were taken to make the World Directory of Historians of Mathematics accessible electronically at the home page that will be created in 2001 or 2002.

On January 1, 2000, Umberto Bottazzini and Craig Fraser took over the editorship of the commission's journal, Historia Mathematica.

The ICHM supports the regular international meetings of historians of mathematics which tend to alternate between Oberwolfach, Germany and Luminy-Marseille, France. In 2000 a meeting in Oberwolfach was held during the week of January 30 to February 5 with the theme "The History of Mathematics in the 20th Century", organized by Jesper Lützen, Copenhagen University, Denmark, Jeremy Gray, Open University, UK, and Moritz Epple, Mainz University, Germany.