Overview

This vividly illustrated history of the International Congress of Mathematicians — a meeting of mathematicians from around the world held roughly every four years — acts as a visual history of the 25 congresses held between 1897 and 2006, as well as a story of changes in the culture of mathematics over the past century. Because the congress is an international meeting, looking at its history allows us a glimpse into the effect of wars and strained relations between nations on the scientific community.

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9780367385965

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Reviews

The history of the prized Fields Medal and its founder is quite compelling ... [and] the author's description of [the last ICM, in 2006] whets one's appetite to attend ICM 2010 in India. --Brenda Strassfield, Mathematics Teacher, May 2010 This is an excellent book, and the author is to be congratulated on his efforts in collecting references from many sources (congress proceedings, books, articles, notes and announcements in journals), especially old sources from the early times of the ICMs. --Dharma Lesmono, Australian Mathematical Society, March 2010 This well-written and beautifully edited book gives a survey of all 25 ICM's, from 1897 in Zurich to 2006 in Madrid. --Bart J. I. Van Kerkhove, Mathematical Reviews, December 2009 Mathematicians of the World, Unite! is much more detailed, more probing, and (of course) more current. A niche book, likely to be of interest to both mathematicians and historians of science. Recommended [for] academic collections, upper-division undergraduate and above. --S. J. Colley, CHOICE, December 2009 Curbero found... with the help of many colleagues abroad, new and interesting material on the Oslo congress of 1936 and on the origins of the Fields medals in mathematics, which were awarded for the first time in Oslo. The book proceeds chronologically, describing each congress on the basis of the published Proceedings, usually citing the titles of the plenary lectures, commenting on the number and the national distribution of participants, and on the financial conditions. This is accompanied by a wealth of partly new pictorial material of good quality... --Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze, Zentralblatt MATH, October 2009 The pictures from over 100 years of Congresses form a special feature of the book. ... The pictures succeed in bringing the Congresses to life and emphasize that the interactions of participants are the most important feature of these meetings. The book will bring back many memories for those who have attended the more recent Congresses and will give those who have not attended an understanding of what they have missed. --Edmund Robertson, The London Mathematical Society, October 2009 Extensive efforts are evident in this carefully researched text with its extraordinary collection of 400 illustrations, many of which have not appeared elsewhere, at least in recent times. The text is a joy to read and the lavish layout is a delight to the eye. ... I eagerly awaited the appearance of this new volume. It has now appeared and a splendid work it is, profusely illustrated and elegantly presented. It is comprehensive, with lots of color pictures, not only of mathematicians and meeting venues, but also with much attention paid to ephemera: posters, invitations and tickets, logos, postage stamps, scenes of social events and excursions -- and even the sheet music for a song by Tom Lehrer. It is almost as good as having attended the congresses! ... If you enjoy reading about mathematicians, their foibles as well as their passion for this subject, you can be assured that this book has much to offer. --Gerald Alexanderson, MAA Reviews, April 2009 welcome this book and hope it will inspire international cooperation without politics and promote curiosity and interest in the whole area of mathematics. --Lennart Carleson, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, February 2009

Author Information

Guillermo Curbera, University of Seville, Spain

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