London Mathematical Society

London Mathematical Society
Formation	1865
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	London
Location	London
Key people	Angus Macintyre
Website	www.lms.ac.uk

The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the UK's learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA)).

History

The Society was established on 16 January 1865, the first president being Augustus De Morgan. The earliest meetings were held in University College, but the Society soon moved into Burlington House, Piccadilly. The initial activities of the Society included talks and publication of a journal.

The LMS was used as a model for the establishment of the American Mathematical Society in 1888.

The Society was granted a royal charter in 1965, a century after its foundation. In 1998 the Society moved from rooms in Burlington House into De Morgan House (named after the society's first president), at 57–58 Russell Square, Bloomsbury, to accommodate an expansion of its staff.

Proposal for unification with the IMA

On 4 July 2008, the Joint Planning Group for the LMS and IMA proposed a merger of two societies to form a single, unified society. The proposal was the result of eight years of consultations and the councils of both societies commended the report to their members.^[1] Those in favour of the merger argued a single society would give mathematics in the UK a coherent voice when dealing with Research Councils.^[2] The proposal was rejected on 29 May 2009 by 591 to 458 (56% to 44%).^[3]

Activities

The Society publishes books and periodicals; organizes mathematical conferences; provides funding to promote mathematics research and education; and awards a number of prizes and fellowships for excellence in mathematical research.

Publications

The Society's periodical publications include three printed journals:

• Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society
• Journal of the London Mathematical Society
• Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society

Other publications include an electronic journal, the Journal of Computation and Mathematics; and a regular members' newsletter. It also publishes the journal Compositio Mathematica on behalf of its owning foundation, and copublishes Nonlinearity with the Institute of Physics. The Society publishes four book series: a series of Monographs, a series of Lecture Notes, a series of Student Texts, and (jointly with the American Mathematical Society) the History of Mathematics series; it also co-publishes four series of translations: Russian Mathematical Surveys, Izvestiya: Mathematics and Sbornik: Mathematics (jointly with the Russian Academy of Sciences and Turpion), and Transactions of the Moscow Mathematical Society (jointly with the American Mathematical Society).

Prizes

The named prizes are:

• De Morgan Medal (triennial) — the most prestigious;
• Pólya Prize (two years out of three);
• Senior Berwick Prize;
• Senior Whitehead Prize (biennial);
• Naylor Prize and Lectureship;
• Berwick Prize;
• Fröhlich Prize (biennial);
• Whitehead Prize (annual).

In addition, the Society jointly with the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications awards the David Crighton Medal every three years.

List of presidents

• 1865–1866 Augustus De Morgan
• 1866–1868 James Joseph Sylvester
• 1868–1870 Arthur Cayley
• 1870–1872 William Spottiswoode
• 1872–1874 Thomas Archer Hirst
• 1874–1876 Henry John Stephen Smith
• 1876–1878 Lord Rayleigh
• 1878–1880 Charles Watkins Merrifield
• 1880–1882 Samuel Roberts
• 1882–1884 Olaus Henrici
• 1884–1886 James Whitbread Lee Glaisher
• 1886–1888 James Cockle
• 1888–1890 John James Walker
• 1890–1892 Alfred George Greenhill
• 1892–1894 Alfred Kempe
• 1894–1896 Percy Alexander MacMahon
• 1896–1898 Edwin Elliott
• 1898–1900 William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
• 1900–1902 E. W. Hobson
• 1902–1904 Horace Lamb
• 1904–1906 Andrew Forsyth
• 1906–1908 William Burnside
• 1908–1910 William Niven
• 1910–1912 H. F. Baker
• 1912–1914 Augustus Edward Hough Love
• 1914–1916 Joseph Larmor
• 1916–1918 Hector Macdonald
• 1918–1920 John Edward Campbell
• 1920–1922 Herbert Richmond
• 1922–1924 William Henry Young
• 1924–1926 Arthur Lee Dixon
• 1926–1928 G. H. Hardy
• 1928–1929 E. T. Whittaker
• 1929–1931 Sydney Chapman
• 1931–1933 Alfred Cardew Dixon
• 1933–1935 G. N. Watson
• 1935–1937 George Barker Jeffery
• 1937–1939 Edward Arthur Milne
• 1939–1941 G. H. Hardy
• 1941–1943 John Edensor Littlewood
• 1943–1945 L J Mordelll
• 1945–1947 Edward Charles Titchmarsh
• 1947–1949 W. V. D. Hodge
• 1949–1951 Max Newman
• 1951–1953 George Frederick James Temple
• 1953–1955 J. H. C. Whitehead
• 1955–1957 Philip Hall
• 1957–1959 Harold Davenport
• 1959–1961 Hans Heilbronn
• 1961–1963 Mary Cartwright
• 1963–1965 Arthur Geoffrey Walker
• 1965–1967 Graham Higman
• 1967–1969 J. A. Todd
• 1969–1970 Edward Collingwood
• 1970–1972 Claude Ambrose Rogers
• 1972–1974 David George Kendall
• 1974–1976 Michael Atiyah
• 1976–1978 J. W. S. Cassels
• 1978–1980 C. T. C. Wall
• 1980–1982 B E Johnson
• 1982–1984 Paul Cohn
• 1984–1986 Ioan James
• 1986–1988 Erik Christopher Zeeman
• 1988–1990 John H. Coates
• 1990–1992 John Kingman
• 1992–1994 John Robert Ringrose
• 1994–1996 Nigel Hitchin
• 1996–1998 John M. Ball
• 1998–2000 Martin J. Taylor
• 2000–2002 J Trevor Stuart
• 2002–2003 Peter Goddard
• 2004–2005 Frances Kirwan
• 2005–2007 John Toland
• 2007–2009 E Brian Davies
• 2009 Interim President John M. Ball^[4]
• 2009– Angus Macintyre^[5]

See also

• American Mathematical Society
• Edinburgh Mathematical Society
• European Mathematical Society
• List of Mathematical Societies
• Council for the Mathematical Sciences
• BCS-FACS Specialist Group

References

1. ^ "New Math Soc". http://www.newmathsoc.org.uk/. Retrieved 21 April 2009. 
2. ^ Alice Rogers (12 May 2009). "Why I believe a united society would be better". http://groups.google.co.uk/group/newmathsoc/browse_thread/thread/8613d3cc501d7352. Retrieved 27 June 2009. 
3. ^ "LMS Special General Meeting votes against progressing with unification plans". London Mathematical Society. http://www.lms.ac.uk/sgm_results.html. Retrieved 17 June 2009. 
4. ^ "Statement by the Council of the London Mathematical Society". London Mathematical Society. 7 July 2009. http://www.lms.ac.uk/council_statement2.html. Retrieved 15 July 2009. 
5. ^ "Statement following the Council Meeting on 24 August 2009". London Mathematical Society. 26 August 2009. http://www.lms.ac.uk/council_statement4.html. 

• Oakes, Susan Margaret; Pears, Alan Robson & Rice, Adrian Clifford (2005). The Book of Presidents 1865–1965. London Mathematical Society. ISBN 0-9502734-1-4. 

External links

• London Mathematical Society website
• A History of the London Mathematical Society
• MacTutor: The London Mathematical Society