The International Commission on the History of Mathematics was established in 1971 to promote the study of

history of mathematics The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples of new mathematical developments ...

. Kenneth O. May provided its initial impetus. In 1974, its official journal Historia Mathematica began publishing. Every four years the Commission bestows the Kenneth O. May Medal upon a deserving historian of mathematics. In 1981, in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, the first in a series of symposia was held in conjunction with the International Congress of History of Science. In 1985, the ICHM became an inter-union commission of both the

International Mathematical Union The International Mathematical Union (IMU) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the field of mathematics across the world. It is a member of the International Science Council (ISC) and supports ...

and the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science. In 1989 the first Kenneth O. May prize was awarded to Dirk Struik and Adolf P. Yushkevich.

Joseph Dauben Joseph Warren Dauben (born 29 December 1944, Santa Monica) is a Herbert H. Lehman Distinguished Professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He obtained his PhD from Harvard University. His fields of expertise ...

became chair of the executive committee of the ICHM in 1985 and proceeded to assemble the global contributions from 40 historians for the 2002 publication ''Writing the History of Mathematics: Its Historical Development'', published by Birkhäuser. In his review, Donald Cook noted, "Because the book is not designed to completely explore issues, it may raise questions for readers." The ICHM began awarding the Montucla Prize, for the best article by an early career scholar in ''Historia Mathematica'', in 2009. The award is given every four years.

References

External links

ICHM official website

A Brief History of the International Commission on the History of Mathematics
from

. {{International mathematical activities Mathematical societies International scientific organizations Scientific organizations established in 1971 History of science organizations