The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's

learned societies A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

for

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

(the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the

Institute of Mathematics and its Applications The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) is the UK's chartered professional body for mathematicians and one of the UK's learned societies for mathematics (another being the London Mathematical Society). The IMA aims to advance ...

(IMA), the Edinburgh Mathematical Society and the Operational Research Society (ORS).

History

The Society was established on 16 January 1865, the first president being

Augustus De Morgan Augustus De Morgan (27 June 1806 – 18 March 1871) was a British mathematician and logician. He is best known for De Morgan's laws, relating logical conjunction, disjunction, and negation, and for coining the term "mathematical induction", the ...

. The earliest meetings were held in

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

, but the Society soon moved into

Burlington House Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. It was originally a private English Baroque and then Neo-Palladian mansion owned by the Earl of Burlington, Earls of Burlington. It was significantly expanded in the mid-19th cent ...

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

. 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 The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

in 1888. Mary Cartwright was the first woman to be President of the LMS (in 1961–62). The Society was granted a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

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 Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, built predominantly by the firm of James Burton (property developer), James Burton. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Mus ...

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, to accommodate an expansion of its staff. In 2015 the Society celebrated its 150th anniversary. During the year the anniversary was celebrated with a wide range of meetings, events, and other activities, highlighting the historical and continuing value and prevalence of mathematics in society, and in everyday life.

Membership

Membership is open to those who are interested in mathematics. Currently, there are four classes of membership, namely: (a) Ordinary, (b) Reciprocity, (c) Associate, and (d) Associate (undergraduate). In addition, Honorary Members of the Society are distinguished mathematicians who are not normally resident in the UK, who are proposed by the Society's Council for election to Membership at a Society Meeting.

LMS Activities

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

Grants

The Society supports mathematics in the UK through its grant schemes. These schemes provide support for mathematicians at different stages in their careers. The Society’s grants includ
research grants
for mathematicians, early career researchers and computer scientists working at the interface of mathematics and computer science
education grants
for teachers and other educators; travel grants to attend conferences; and grants for those wit
caring
responsibilities. Awarding grants is one of the primary mechanisms through which the Society achieves its central purpose, namely to 'promote and extend mathematical knowledge’.

Fellowships

The Society also offers a range of Fellowships
LMS Early Career FellowshipsLMS Atiyah-Lebanon UK FellowshipsLMS Emmy Noether Fellowships
an
Grace Chisholm Young Fellowships

Society lectures and meetings

The Society organises an annual programme of events and meetings. The programme provides meetings of interest to undergraduates, through early career researchers to established mathematicians. These includ
LMS-Bath Mathematical SymposiaLecture Series (Aitken/Forder, Hardy, Invited)Research SchoolsLMS Prospects in Mathematics MeetingPublic LecturesSociety MeetingsLMS Undergraduate Summer Schools
an
Women in Mathematics Days

Publications

The Society's periodical publications include five journals: *''Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society'' (1969–present) *''Journal of the London Mathematical Society'' (1926–present) *''Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society'' (1865–present) *''Transactions of the London Mathematical Society'' (2014–present) *'' Journal of Topology'' (2006 – present) It also publishes the journal '' Compositio Mathematica'' on behalf of its owning foundation, '' Mathematika'' on behalf of

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and ''

Nonlinearity In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system (or a non-linear system) is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathe ...

'' with the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

Books

The Society publishes two book series, th
''LMS'' ''Lecture Notes''
an
''LMS'' ''Student Texts''
Previously it published a series of ''Monographs'' and (jointly with the

) the ''History of Mathematics'' series. An electronic journal, the '' LMS Journal of Computation and Mathematics'', ceased publication at the end of 2017.

Prizes

The named prizes are: * De Morgan Medal (triennial) — the most prestigious * Pólya Prize (two years out of three) * Louis Bachelier Prize (biennial) * Senior Berwick Prize * Senior Whitehead Prize (biennial) * Naylor Prize and Lectureship * Berwick Prize * Anne Bennett Prize * Senior Anne Bennett Prize * Fröhlich Prize (biennial) * Shephard Prize * Whitehead Prize (annual)
Hirst Prize
In addition, the Society jointly with the

awards the David Crighton Medal and Christopher Zeeman Medal on alternating years. The LMS also awards the Emmy Noether Fellowships.

List of presidents

Source:

References

External links

London Mathematical Society website

Clubs and societies in London Education in the London Borough of Camden Learned societies of the United Kingdom Mathematical societies Mathematics education in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the London Borough of Camden Scientific organizations established in 1865 Science and technology in London 1865 establishments in England {{coord, 51.5212, -0.1243, display=title