November 2014

LONDONLONDON MATHEMATICALMATHEMATICAL SOCIETYSOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 441 November 2014

Society Meetings ELECTIONS TO COUNCIL AND and Events NOMINATING COMMITTEE 2014 Members should now have for the election can be found on 2014 received a communication from the LMS website at www.lms. Friday the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) ac.uk/about/council/lms-elections. 14 November for both e-voting and paper ballot. For both electronic and postal LMS AGM For online voting, members may voting the deadline for receipt Naylor Lecture cast a vote by going to www. of votes is Thursday 6 November. London votebyinternet.com/LMS2014 and Members may still cast a vote in page 7 using the two part security code person at the AGM, although an Wednesday on the email sent by the ERS and in-person vote must be cast via a 17 December also on their ballot paper. paper ballot. 1 SW & South Wales All members are asked to look Members may like to note that Regional Meeting out for communication from an LMS Election blog, moderated Plymouth page 27 the ERS. We hope that as many by the Scrutineers, can be members as possible will cast their found at http://discussions.lms. 2015 vote. If you have not received ac.uk/elections2014. ballot material, please contact Friday 16 January [email protected], con- Future Elections 150th Anniversary firming the address (post or email) Members are invited to make sug- Launch, London page 9 to which you would like material gestions for nominees for future sent. election to Council. These should Friday 27 February With respect to the election itself, be addressed to the Nominat- Mary Cartwright there are ten candidates proposed ing Committee (nominations@ Lecture, London for six vacancies for Member-at- lms.ac.uk). Members may also 16 - 20 March 2015 Large. One candidate has been make direct nominations: details LMS Invited Lectures nominated for the role of Mem- will be published in the April Durham ber-at-Large (Librarian). Four can- 2014 Newsletter or are available page 16 didates have been proposed for from Duncan Turton at the LMS Wednesday 1 April two vacancies in the membership ([email protected]). 150th Anniversary of Nominating Committee. The Fiona Nixon Celebrations at the slates and candidate biographies Executive Secretary BMC-BAMC 2015 Cambridge page 8 LMS TWITTER FEED LAUNCHED

The LMS is pleased to follow us on Twitter to receive NEWSLETTER announce the launch of its regular updates about the ONLINE: new Twitter feed @LondMath society, and UK mathematics in newsletter.lms.ac.uk Soc. We invite our members to general.

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Contents ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Annual General Meeting of the London No. 441 November 2014 Mathematical Society will be held at 3.00 pm on Friday 14 November 2014 in the Jeffrey Hall at the Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL. The business shall be: 1. Elections to Council and Nominating Committee 2. Review of Society Activities 2013-14 3. Report of the Treasurer 4. Resolutions 12 1 A REVIEW OF THE NEWSLETTER 150th Anniversary Events Meetings Council is firmly of the view that a Newslet- BMC-BAMC 2015 - LMS 150th Integrable Day...... 29 ter is critically important for the Society, but Anniversary Celebration Day...... 8 INI Random Planar Structures that its form is overdue for a review. One might imagine changes in various ways, such Launch of the 150th Workshop...... 29 as its size, frequency, and style. Comparisons 2 Anniversary Celebrations...... 9 are often made with the Newsletter of the News European Mathematical Society, for example. Calendar of Events...... 35 European News...... 20 We would like to assemble a small group of LMS Items Mathematics Policy Round-up...... 5 The Man Who Knew Infinity...... 12 Annual General Meeting...... 3 OPEN HOUSE SUCCESS CONTINUES Annual LMS Subscription 2014-15...... 4 Over three hundred people once again visited Obituary A Review of the Newsletter...... 3 De Morgan House on Sunday 21 September Mullender, Pieter...... 30 2014 as part of the annual London Open Elections to Council and House event. Since first participating in Open Nominating Committee 2014...... 1 Reports House four years ago nearly 1,500 people Open House Success Continues...... 3 have visited De Morgan House, learning British Science Festival...... 23 LMS Invited Lectures 2016 - Call for about the Society and mathematics more Knowledge Transfer Reports...... 13 Proposals...... 16 Lancaster University 50th Anniversary...22 LMS Hardy Fellowship Lecture Editorial team Valediction to Jeremy Gray...... 21 http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk Tour 2016...... 14 Editorial office LMS Prizes 2015 - Call for Nominations...11 Reviews London Mathematical Society, LMS Twitter Feed Launched...... 1 De Morgan House, 57–58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS Society Conference Grants...... 17 Basic Gambling Mathematics...... 31 (t: 020 7637 3686; Experiencing Mathematics...... 33 f: 020 7323 3655) Events calendar LMS Meetings How to Study for a Maths Degree...... 30 Updates and corrections to Annual General Meeting 2014...... 7 [email protected] Scholarship Articles Northern Regional Meeting 2015...... 10 Send articles to SW & South West Regional Meeting.....27 Cecil King Travel Scholarship...... 26 [email protected] Advertising For rates and guidelines see

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Annual General Meeting of the London a. Adoption of the Trustees’ Report Mathematical Society will be held at 3.00 2013-14 pm on Friday 14 November 2014 in the b. Appointment of the Auditors Jeffrey Hall at the Institute of Education, 5. Presentation of Certificates to the 2014 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL. LMS Prize Winners The business shall be: It is hoped that as many members as 1. Elections to Council and Nominating possible will be able to attend. The Annual Committee General Meeting will be followed by a 2. Review of Society Activities 2013-14 Society Meeting (see page 7). 3. Report of the Treasurer Fiona Nixon 4. Resolutions Executive Secretary

A REVIEW OF THE NEWSLETTER Council is firmly of the view that a Newslet- people to start thinking about this, as well as 29 ter is critically important for the Society, but some names of people who might be inter- that its form is overdue for a review. One ested in working on a new Newsletter. If you might imagine changes in various ways, such would like to be considered for membership 29 as its size, frequency, and style. Comparisons of our working group, or if you would like are often made with the Newsletter of the to suggest somebody else who might be in- 3 European Mathematical Society, for example. terested, please write to Stephen Huggett at 20 We would like to assemble a small group of [email protected]. 5 12 OPEN HOUSE SUCCESS CONTINUES Over three hundred people once again visited generally. De Morgan House on Sunday 21 September At this year’s event visitors were given a 30 2014 as part of the annual London Open short tour of selected rooms in the building House event. Since first participating in Open by LMS staff and Open House volunteers. As House four years ago nearly 1,500 people well as discussing the architectural features have visited De Morgan House, learning of De Morgan House and its place in the 23 about the Society and mathematics more history of Bloomsbury, the event is an op- 13 22 Editorial team Publication dates and deadlines http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk 21 Published monthly, except August. Items and adver- Editorial office www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter/ tisements by the first day of the month prior to London Mathematical Society, ratecard.html publication, or the closest preceding working day. No- tices and advertisements are not accepted for events De Morgan House, 57–58 Russell General Editor Square, London WC1B 4HS that occur in the first week of the publication month. 31 Mr A.J.S. Mann (t: 020 7637 3686; ([email protected]) News items and notices in the Newsletter may be f: 020 7323 3655) freely used elsewhere unless otherwise stated, 33 Reviews Editor Events calendar although attribution is requested when reproducing 30 Professor D. Singerman whole articles. Contributions to the Newsletter are Updates and corrections to ([email protected]) [email protected] made under a non-exclusive licence; please contact the Administrative Editor author or photographer for the rights to reproduce. Articles S.M. Oakes The LMS cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy Send articles to ([email protected]) of information in the Newsletter. Views expressed do [email protected] 26 Typeset by the LMS at De not necessarily represent the views or policy of the Advertising Morgan House; printed by London Mathematical Society. For rates and guidelines see Holbrooks Printers Ltd. Charity registration number: 252660.

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portunity to publicise LMS activities. On this ing the collection. occasion visitors had the opportunity to view Open House is an ideal opportunity to Subscription Rates for the EMS and JEMS via the LMS. the Mathematics in World War 1 exhibition, inform the public about the Society’s 150th Members also have the option to pay their European Mathematical Society subscription via the which was very well received. Visitors also Anniversary (www.lms.ac.uk/2015) and we LMS and subscribe to the Journal of the EMS: heard about the Philippa Fawcett book col- intend to have a wide range of information lection from volunteers who were catalogu- and exhibitions at next year’s event. EMS subscription (via the LMS) £22.00 JEMS subscription (via the LMS) £120.00

ANNUAL LMS SUBSCRIPTION 2014-15 Renewal and Payment Members are reminded that their annual subscription, including payment for publications, for A subscription form has been sent by email or post to all members to complete and return with the period November 2014-October 2015 is due on 1 November 2014. payment. Members are advised to use the subscription form to update the Society with their contact details. Membership Subscription Rates If you have not received your subscription form, please contact Membership (membership@ The annual subscription to the London Mathematical Society for 2014-15 is: lms.ac.uk; 020 7291 9973). The Society encourages payment by direct debit. If you do not already pay by this method Ordinary membership £66.00 and would like to set up a direct debit (this requires a UK bank account), please visit the LMS Concessions on ordinary membership: website to download the direct debit mandate form: www.lms.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Mem bership/Direct%20Debit%20Form.pdf. Reciprocity £33.00 The Society also accepts payment by cheque or credit/debit card. Career break or part-time working £16.00 Please note that subscriptions become due on 1 November 2014 and payment should be received by 1 December 2014. 4 Associate membership £16.00 Elizabeth Fisher Membership & Activities Officer LMS Journal Prices The prices of the Society’s periodicals for 2015 are: MATHEMATICS POLICY ROUND-UP Print only Online only Print & online October 2014 Bulletin N/A Free £81.00 HIGHER EDUCATION Journal N/A Free £145.00 Statistics of higher education HEFCE has published interactive data on the Proceedings N/A Free £155.00 trends in employment of staff in the higher Rest of World North America education sector for the ten years, 2003-04 to 2012-13. 2012-13 is the first year in which Nonlinearity N/A Free £200.00 £200.00 ($320.00) detailed information on job types is available. JCM (electronic) Free The type of work staff undertake in English higher education institutions falls into two We would like to draw members’ attention to the following changes regarding the Society’s main categories: journals: • academic roles, such as professors and re- 1. Council has agreed the Society will no longer offer print-only copies of Nonlinearity to search assistants; and members from 1 January 2015. • professional and support roles, such as man- 2. Council has agreed the Society will offer free electronic access to Nonlinearity to members agers and directors. for personal use from 1 January 2015. To receive free electronic access for personal use, More information is available at http://tinyurl. please note this on your subscription form when returning it to the Membership Depart- com/psoxqd6. ment. Please note that for online journal subscriptions it is essential that members provide SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES the Society with an up-to-date email address as the email address will be passed to the Institute of Physics who will send further details to subscribers. Mathematics Teacher Training Scholarships 3. Council has agreed the Society will continue to offer the “Print & online” option for Nonlin- The Institute of Mathematics and its Applica- earity to members from 1 January 2015. tions (IMA), LMS and the Royal Statistical Society

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 4 10/23/2014 4:34:35 PM http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected] No. 441 November 2014 ing the collection. Open House is an ideal opportunity to Subscription Rates for the EMS and JEMS via the LMS. inform the public about the Society’s 150th Members also have the option to pay their European Mathematical Society subscription via the Anniversary (www.lms.ac.uk/2015) and we LMS and subscribe to the Journal of the EMS: intend to have a wide range of information and exhibitions at next year’s event. EMS subscription (via the LMS) £22.00 JEMS subscription (via the LMS) £120.00

ANNUAL LMS SUBSCRIPTION 2014-15 Renewal and Payment Members are reminded that their annual subscription, including payment for publications, for A subscription form has been sent by email or post to all members to complete and return with the period November 2014-October 2015 is due on 1 November 2014. payment. Members are advised to use the subscription form to update the Society with their contact details. Membership Subscription Rates If you have not received your subscription form, please contact Membership (membership@ The annual subscription to the London Mathematical Society for 2014-15 is: lms.ac.uk; 020 7291 9973). The Society encourages payment by direct debit. If you do not already pay by this method Ordinary membership £66.00 and would like to set up a direct debit (this requires a UK bank account), please visit the LMS Concessions on ordinary membership: website to download the direct debit mandate form: www.lms.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Mem bership/Direct%20Debit%20Form.pdf. Reciprocity £33.00 The Society also accepts payment by cheque or credit/debit card. Career break or part-time working £16.00 Please note that subscriptions become due on 1 November 2014 and payment should be received by 1 December 2014. Associate membership £16.00 Elizabeth Fisher 5 Membership & Activities Officer LMS Journal Prices The prices of the Society’s periodicals for 2015 are: MATHEMATICS POLICY ROUND-UP Print only Online only Print & online October 2014 Bulletin N/A Free £81.00 HIGHER EDUCATION (RSS), Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) and The Mathematical Association (MA) Journal N/A Free £145.00 Statistics of higher education are delighted to be able to continue working HEFCE has published interactive data on the together to deliver Mathematics Teacher Proceedings N/A Free £155.00 trends in employment of staff in the higher Training Scholarships for a third year. Rest of World North America education sector for the ten years, 2003-04 The recent Vision for Science and Mathemat- to 2012-13. 2012-13 is the first year in which ics report produced by the Royal Society argues Nonlinearity N/A Free £200.00 £200.00 ($320.00) detailed information on job types is available. that ‘Inspirational teaching begins with teachers JCM (electronic) Free The type of work staff undertake in English who know and love their subject’. Mathemat- higher education institutions falls into two ics Scholars have excellent subject knowledge as We would like to draw members’ attention to the following changes regarding the Society’s main categories: well as the potential to inspire their pupils and journals: • academic roles, such as professors and re- be inspired by the opportunities offered by the 1. Council has agreed the Society will no longer offer print-only copies of Nonlinearity to search assistants; and Scholarship scheme and by their initial teacher members from 1 January 2015. • professional and support roles, such as man- training. 2. Council has agreed the Society will offer free electronic access to Nonlinearity to members agers and directors. Up to 250 scholarships will be available, worth for personal use from 1 January 2015. To receive free electronic access for personal use, More information is available at http://tinyurl. £25,000 each. Candidates are expected to have please note this on your subscription form when returning it to the Membership Depart- com/psoxqd6. a strong academic background (First, 2.1 or post ment. Please note that for online journal subscriptions it is essential that members provide SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES graduate degree, high levels of mathematical the Society with an up-to-date email address as the email address will be passed to the knowledge and a desire to share their passion Institute of Physics who will send further details to subscribers. Mathematics Teacher Training Scholarships and love for maths. Candidates with a 2:2 may 3. Council has agreed the Society will continue to offer the “Print & online” option for Nonlin- The Institute of Mathematics and its Applica- also be eligible if they bring significant addi- earity to members from 1 January 2015. tions (IMA), LMS and the Royal Statistical Society tional experience).

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As well as £25,000, Scholars will become part More information is available at www.kcl. of a supportive community, be offered 2 years ac.uk/mathsschool/Home.aspx. free membership of the IMA, LMS, RSS, MEI and Review of vocational education: the Wolf report MA with associated benefits. We are looking The report, originally published in 2001, has for applicants with the potential to become been updated. The review considers how vo- inspirational teachers and the future leaders ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING cational education for 14- to 19-year-olds can in education. More information is available at 14 November 2014 be improved in order to promote successful tinyurl.com/oannnab. progression into the labour market and into 3.00 – 6.00 pm higher level education and training routes. It Jeffrey Hall, Institute of Education Subject consultations provides practical recommendations to help (20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL. Nearest tube: Russell Square) The LMS has responded to recent consultations inform future policy direction, taking into – Developing new GCSE, A-level and AS quali- account current financial constraints. More in- fications for first teaching in 2016 (OFQUAL) PROGRAMME formation on the updated report is available at and Reformed GCSE and A-level subject content Annual General Meeting http://tinyurl.com/luevgox. (DfE). The responses are available on the LMS The meeting will include the presentation of certificates to the LMS Prize-winners in 2014. website at www.lms.ac.uk/policy/reports-and- OTHER E. Brian Davies (King’s College London) policy-submissions. Research with young people Non-self-adjoint spectral problems Setting Standards for new GCSEs 2017 The Department for Business, Innovation and Abstract: Non-self-adjoint spectral theory is not yet a coherent subject, in the sense that there is no analogue of the spectral theorem for self-adjoint operators that can act as a basis for further research. Exams regulator Ofqual has confirmed how Skills has published a research report – Research The very high instability of eigenvalues under small perturbations often affects the analysis of par- grading will work when new GCSEs are and analysis: Science, technology, engineering and maths: research with young people. The ticular models. The number of examples understood is expanding rapidly and will continue to do so 6 awarded for the first time. into the foreseeable future. research looks at the attitudes, motivations and New GCSEs in English language, English litera- We describe joint work with Michael Levitin on the N —› ∞ asymptotic spectral behaviour of a particu- ture and mathematics will be taught in schools mindsets of young people and how these affect lar family of large non-self-adjoint matrices Ac,N associated with a self-adjoint linear pencil. Crucial in England from September 2015, with students the decisions they make on subject and career insights were obtained by numerical experiments, even though the final analysis does not use rely on getting their results in August 2017. choice. In particular this is in relation to science, numerics. The problem is a matrix analogue of an indefinite self-adjoint linear pencil that concerns The new GCSEs will be graded 1 to 9, with 9 technology, engineering and mathematics a Dirac operator with an indefinite potential. In some sense it is the simplest matrix example of its being the top grade. Ofqual has consulted on (STEM). The report covers: type, but its behaviour is still far more complex than one might expect. The eigenvalues of the matrix Ac,N converge to the real axis as N ∞, but the details of the convergence depend strongly on the proposals for how standards should be set for • attitudes and mindsets that define today’s —› choice of the real parameter c, in a way that presently defies understanding, even at a numerical level. them, and how the grading scale should work. generation of 14 to 17 year olds across More information is available at tinyurl.com/ England; Tea/Coffee nja8hol. • what young people want from work; Announcement of Election Results • when key decisions are made and identifies Nick Trefethen (Oxford) King’s College London Mathematics School the key influencers; Naylor Lecture: Mathematics of the Faraday Cage Opens • how STEM is perceived by young people, King’s College London Mathematics School has parents and teachers; and Abstract: Everybody has heard of the Faraday cage effect, in which a wire mesh does a good job of been officially opened by Nicky Morgan MP, • how STEM is talked about on social media blocking electric fields. Surely the mathematics of such a famous and useful phenomenon has been long ago worked out and written up in the textbooks? Secretary of State for Education. The full report is available at tinyurl.com/ It seems to be not so. One reason may be that that the effect is not as simple as one might expect: Through its curriculum and its outreach ac- qa9kaal. it depends on the wires having finite radius. Nor is it as strong as one might imagine: the shielding tivities, the School will increase the number of Literacy and numeracy in England improves only linearly as the mesh spacing decreases. Mathematically, the subject is an appealing case well-trained young mathematicians going on to On UN International Literacy Day in September, study in the behaviour of harmonic functions, with links to Brownian motion and diffusion processes. study Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Physically, Faraday cage shielding can be regarded as a process of electrostatic induction by a surface and Engineering. It will also provide access to Committee published a report recommend- of limited capacitance. The talk will present results developed jointly with Jon Chapman and Dave high quality teaching at sixth form level and has ing the government launch a high-profile Hewett. already been running an extensive GCSE enrich- campaign to tackle the alarmingly low levels The meeting will be followed by a reception at De Morgan House, Russell Square, and the Society’s ment programme involving over 250 students of adult literacy and numeracy in England. The Annual Dinner at the Montague Hotel, 15 Montague Street, London WC1B 5BJ. The cost to attend which aims to increase mathematical under- report is available at tinyurl.com/ozzll8c. the dinner will be £53 per person. Those wishing to attend the dinner should contact Carol Chessis standing and improve take up of both Math- Dr John Johnston ([email protected]) by Monday 3 November. For further details about the AGM contact Elizabeth Fisher ([email protected]). ematics and Further Mathematics A-levels. Joint Promotion of Mathematics

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More information is available at www.kcl. ac.uk/mathsschool/Home.aspx. Review of vocational education: the Wolf report The report, originally published in 2001, has been updated. The review considers how vo- ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING cational education for 14- to 19-year-olds can 14 November 2014 be improved in order to promote successful progression into the labour market and into 3.00 – 6.00 pm higher level education and training routes. It Jeffrey Hall, Institute of Education provides practical recommendations to help (20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL. Nearest tube: Russell Square) inform future policy direction, taking into account current financial constraints. More- in PROGRAMME formation on the updated report is available at Annual General Meeting http://tinyurl.com/luevgox. The meeting will include the presentation of certificates to the LMS Prize-winners in 2014. OTHER E. Brian Davies (King’s College London) Research with young people Non-self-adjoint spectral problems The Department for Business, Innovation and Abstract: Non-self-adjoint spectral theory is not yet a coherent subject, in the sense that there is no Skills has published a research report – Research analogue of the spectral theorem for self-adjoint operators that can act as a basis for further research. and analysis: Science, technology, engineering The very high instability of eigenvalues under small perturbations often affects the analysis of par- and maths: research with young people. The ticular models. The number of examples understood is expanding rapidly and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. 7 research looks at the attitudes, motivations and We describe joint work with Michael Levitin on the N —› ∞ asymptotic spectral behaviour of a particu- mindsets of young people and how these affect lar family of large non-self-adjoint matrices Ac,N associated with a self-adjoint linear pencil. Crucial the decisions they make on subject and career insights were obtained by numerical experiments, even though the final analysis does not use rely on choice. In particular this is in relation to science, numerics. The problem is a matrix analogue of an indefinite self-adjoint linear pencil that concerns technology, engineering and mathematics a Dirac operator with an indefinite potential. In some sense it is the simplest matrix example of its (STEM). The report covers: type, but its behaviour is still far more complex than one might expect. The eigenvalues of the matrix • attitudes and mindsets that define today’s Ac,N converge to the real axis as N —› ∞, but the details of the convergence depend strongly on the generation of 14 to 17 year olds across choice of the real parameter c, in a way that presently defies understanding, even at a numerical level. England; Tea/Coffee • what young people want from work; Announcement of Election Results • when key decisions are made and identifies the key influencers; Nick Trefethen (Oxford) • how STEM is perceived by young people, Naylor Lecture: Mathematics of the Faraday Cage parents and teachers; and Abstract: Everybody has heard of the Faraday cage effect, in which a wire mesh does a good job of • how STEM is talked about on social media blocking electric fields. Surely the mathematics of such a famous and useful phenomenon has been The full report is available at tinyurl.com/ long ago worked out and written up in the textbooks? qa9kaal. It seems to be not so. One reason may be that that the effect is not as simple as one might expect: it depends on the wires having finite radius. Nor is it as strong as one might imagine: the shielding Literacy and numeracy in England improves only linearly as the mesh spacing decreases. Mathematically, the subject is an appealing case On UN International Literacy Day in September, study in the behaviour of harmonic functions, with links to Brownian motion and diffusion processes. the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Physically, Faraday cage shielding can be regarded as a process of electrostatic induction by a surface Committee published a report recommend- of limited capacitance. The talk will present results developed jointly with Jon Chapman and Dave ing the government launch a high-profile Hewett. campaign to tackle the alarmingly low levels The meeting will be followed by a reception at De Morgan House, Russell Square, and the Society’s of adult literacy and numeracy in England. The Annual Dinner at the Montague Hotel, 15 Montague Street, London WC1B 5BJ. The cost to attend report is available at tinyurl.com/ozzll8c. the dinner will be £53 per person. Those wishing to attend the dinner should contact Carol Chessis Dr John Johnston ([email protected]) by Monday 3 November. For further details about the AGM contact Elizabeth Fisher ([email protected]). Joint Promotion of Mathematics

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150th Anniversary Celebrations at the BMC-BAMC 2015 1 April 2015, University of Cambridge

Programme Robert Calderbank (Duke) 8 Andrew Wiles (Oxford) Afternoon Workshop Sessions Reception Conference Dinner

To mark the 150th anniversary, there will be an LMS celebratory day as part of the joint BMC-BAMC in Cambridge, which will run from 30 March to 2 April 2015. The day will include plenary lectures by Robert Calderbank and Andrew Wiles and workshop sessions including some of the LMS Scheme 3 Research Groups.

These lectures are aimed at a general mathematical audience. All registered BMC-BAMC conference participants, whether LMS members or not, are most welcome to attend these events.

Registration for the joint BMC-BAMC will open on 1 December 2014. Early bird registration closes on 7 February 2015. If you are interested in attending the joint BMC-BAMC, please complete the preregistration form (http://www.bmc-bamc.org.uk/preregistration).

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150th Anniversary Celebrations at the BMC-BAMC 2015 1 April 2015, University of Cambridge

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150th Anniversary 150th Anniversary LMS PRIZES 2015 LMS Northern Regional Meeting Call for Nominations Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Lancaster University 7 April 2015 The London Mathematical Society welcomes nominations for the 2015 prizes, to recognise and celebrate achievements in and contributions to mathematics. In 2015, the LMS Council expects to award: 2.00 pm Opening of the meeting • The Polya Prize - in recognition of outstanding creativity in, imaginative exposition of, Peter Neumann (Oxford) or distinguished contribution to, mathematics within the United Kingdom. 3.00 pm Dennis Sullivan (SUNY, Stony • The Shephard Prize – awarded for the first time in 2015. For making a contribution to Brook) mathematics with a strong intuitive component which can be explained to those with little or no knowledge of university mathematics, though the work itself may involve more 4.00 pm Tea/Coffee advanced ideas. 4.30 pm Ieke Moerdijk • The Senior Whitehead Prize - for work in, influence on or service to mathematics, or 10 (Radboud University Nijmegen/ recognition of lecturing gifts in the field of mathematics. Sheffield) • The Naylor Prize and Lectureship - for work in, and influence on, and contributions to applied mathematics and/or the applications of mathematics, and lecturing gifts. 6.00 pm Reception and Dinner • The Berwick Prize - in recognition of an outstanding piece of mathematical research actually published by the Society during the eight years ending on 31 December 2014. • The Whitehead Prizes - for work in and influence on mathematics. These lectures are aimed at a general mathematical audience. All interest- • The Anne Bennett Prize – awarded for the first time in 2015. For work in and influence ed, whether LMS members or not, are most welcome to attend this event. on mathematics, particularly acting as an inspiration for women mathematicians. For further details and to register and to reserve a place at the dinner, visit • The Hirst Prize for the History of Mathematics – awarded to mark the LMS 150th the website at www.lancaster.ac.uk/maths/research/homotopical/. Anniversary – for contributions to the study of the history of mathematics. The prize will The cost of the dinner will be approximately £30, including drinks. be awarded in recognition of original and innovative work in the history of mathematics, which may be in any medium. The meeting forms part of a workshop on Homotopical Algebra and • The Prize for Communication of Mathematics - awarded to mark the LMS 150th Geometry from 7 - 11 April 2015. The speakers at the workshop include: Anniversary - for the award of the prize are communication of mathematics and excel- D.-C. Cisinski, V. Ginzburg, M. Gross, I. Grojnowski, V. Hinich, D. Joyce, A. lence in communication. The communication of ideas may be in any medium and the King and M. Livernet. For further details visit the website above or contact audiences involved may be of any age-group. the organiser ([email protected]). For further information and nomination forms, please visit the LMS website (www.lms. There are funds available to contribute in part to the expenses of ac.uk/content/nominations-lms-prizes) or contact Duncan Turton, Secretary to the Prizes members of the Society or research students to attend the meeting and Committee at the Society (tel: 020 7927 0801, email: [email protected]). workshop. Requests for support, including an estimate of expenses, may The Prizes Committee is keen to increase the number of nominations it receives and, in be addressed to the organisers. particular, the number of nominations for women, which are disproportionately low each year. The prize regulations refer to the concept of ‘academic age’ — rather than date of birth — in order to take account more fully of broken career patterns. Closing date for nominations Monday 20 January 2015

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150th Anniversary 150th Anniversary LMS PRIZES 2015 LMS Northern Regional Meeting Call for Nominations Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Lancaster University 7 April 2015 The London Mathematical Society welcomes nominations for the 2015 prizes, to recognise and celebrate achievements in and contributions to mathematics. In 2015, the LMS Council expects to award: • The Polya Prize - in recognition of outstanding creativity in, imaginative exposition of, or distinguished contribution to, mathematics within the United Kingdom. • The Shephard Prize – awarded for the first time in 2015. For making a contribution to mathematics with a strong intuitive component which can be explained to those with little or no knowledge of university mathematics, though the work itself may involve more advanced ideas. • The Senior Whitehead Prize - for work in, influence on or service to mathematics, or recognition of lecturing gifts in the field of mathematics. 11 • The Naylor Prize and Lectureship - for work in, and influence on, and contributions to applied mathematics and/or the applications of mathematics, and lecturing gifts. • The Berwick Prize - in recognition of an outstanding piece of mathematical research actually published by the Society during the eight years ending on 31 December 2014. • The Whitehead Prizes - for work in and influence on mathematics. • The Anne Bennett Prize – awarded for the first time in 2015. For work in and influence on mathematics, particularly acting as an inspiration for women mathematicians. • The Hirst Prize for the History of Mathematics – awarded to mark the LMS 150th Anniversary – for contributions to the study of the history of mathematics. The prize will be awarded in recognition of original and innovative work in the history of mathematics, which may be in any medium. • The Prize for Communication of Mathematics - awarded to mark the LMS 150th Anniversary - for the award of the prize are communication of mathematics and excel- lence in communication. The communication of ideas may be in any medium and the audiences involved may be of any age-group. For further information and nomination forms, please visit the LMS website (www.lms. ac.uk/content/nominations-lms-prizes) or contact Duncan Turton, Secretary to the Prizes Committee at the Society (tel: 020 7927 0801, email: [email protected]). The Prizes Committee is keen to increase the number of nominations it receives and, in particular, the number of nominations for women, which are disproportionately low each year. The prize regulations refer to the concept of ‘academic age’ — rather than date of birth — in order to take account more fully of broken career patterns. Closing date for nominations Monday 20 January 2015

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THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY allowed the film crew inside it’s grounds to Notes from Production shoot several scenes. One included a shot where Dev Patel as Ramanujin is introduced Production began early in August 2014 on to the iconic punting races but is unkindly The Man Who Knew Infinity, a film based pushed into the River Cam by another on the book by Robert Kanigel about the student. This was covered by local paparazzi life of world-renowned mathematician and made the press in India as ‘Dev Patel ac- Ramanujin. The film focuses on the bond cidently ends in the river as he slipped and that developed between Trinity College fell during filming!’ It was a real honour Fellow G.H. Hardy (played by Jeremy Irons) for the film crew to work inside Trinity and and the young Ramanujin (played by Dev the quads were filled with extras dressed as Patel). professors. When the real ‘dinner bell’ rang The story begins with Ramanujin’s early promptly at 7.30 pm each evening it was life as he developed his inspirational math- sometimes difficult to tell the extras from ematics potential and was invited by Hardy the real professors who call Trinity home. to study at Cambridge. It was a difficult There were other poignant scenes as the decision for the young man, to leave his young bride and his Braham culture behind. Cambridge at that time was a cold and harsh KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER REPORTS PUBLISHED place for the young man who struggled not Quantitative Verification just in his studies but with the racism and Jeremy Irons as G.H. Hardy Problem Solving for the 21st Century 12 condescension from the other Dons in the Ramanujan. Ken assisted the director with faculty. some of the dialogue in the film to make The LMS-Smith Institute Knowledge Transfer The film has been written and directed sure the two lead characters spoke in real Reports are an initiative coordinated jointly by Matt Brown who brought in Ken Ono, ‘mathematics!’ He also taught Jeremy by the Smith Institute and the Computer the Asa Griggs Candler Professor from Irons and Dev Patel how to write formulas Science Committee of the LMS. Two new Emory University in Atlanta, an American on blackboards in preparation for their reports have been published. mathematician who specializes in number on-screen scenes. The first new report, written by Gethin theory, especially in integer partitions, Ken had his own personal connection to Norman and David Parker is on Quantitative modular forms, and the fields of interest to Ramanujin. Ken’s father was also a math- Verification. Quantitative verification is a ematician and had technique for analysing quantitative aspects responded to an of a system's design, such as timeliness, reli- appeal to help fund a ability or performance. The report explains statue to commemo- the basics of quantitative verification, high- rate Ramanujin in his lights a variety of successful applications hometown in India. of the methods and seeks to spur further Some time later, Ken advances in the field. was still a teenager, The second report, co-authored by a flimsy airmail Clark Barrett, Daniel Kroening and Tom envelope covered in Melham is titled Problem Solving for the Indian stamps arrived 21st Century and focuses on Satisfiabil- at their house. It was ity Modulo Theories (SMT). SMT is a com- a personal letter from puterised method for finding solutions to Ramanujin’s widow, business and industrial problems expressed Janika, to thank him mathematically by systems of constraints. for the donation. The report explains the background to SMT For the first time technology and presents areas where it has in its history, Trinity been successfully applied. The report also Jeremy Irons and Dev Patel as Ramanujan College at Cambridge sets out the potential for the widespread

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THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY allowed the film crew inside it’s grounds to film is set from 1912 to 1916 when the first Notes from Production shoot several scenes. One included a shot world war was debated and fought. As where Dev Patel as Ramanujin is introduced Britain started to commemorate the start of to the iconic punting races but is unkindly the war and remember the dreadful carnage pushed into the River Cam by another that ensued, our actors were creating scenes student. This was covered by local paparazzi where opinions were aired as to the actions and made the press in India as ‘Dev Patel ac- that would soon be taken in reality. One cidently ends in the river as he slipped and day, as his character G.H. Hardy, Jeremy fell during filming!’ It was a real honour Irons was reading a prop newspaper with for the film crew to work inside Trinity and the headline ‘Archduke Shot’ almost one the quads were filled with extras dressed as hundred years to the day from the actual professors. When the real ‘dinner bell’ rang event. promptly at 7.30 pm each evening it was The Man Who Knew Infinity should be in sometimes difficult to tell the extras from theatres towards the end of 2015. the real professors who call Trinity home. Pamela Godfrey There were other poignant scenes as the Executive Producer

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER REPORTS PUBLISHED

Jeremy Irons as G.H. Hardy Quantitative Verification Problem Solving for the 21st Century Ramanujan. Ken assisted the director with 13 some of the dialogue in the film to make The LMS-Smith Institute Knowledge Transfer application of the technology. sure the two lead characters spoke in real Reports are an initiative coordinated jointly The Computer Science Committee hopes ‘mathematics!’ He also taught Jeremy by the Smith Institute and the Computer that members with an interest in the Irons and Dev Patel how to write formulas Science Committee of the LMS. Two new interface of computer science and math- on blackboards in preparation for their reports have been published. ematics will look at both of the papers, and on-screen scenes. The first new report, written by Gethin pass them to others with an interest in the Ken had his own personal connection to Norman and David Parker is on Quantitative technology. Ramanujin. Ken’s father was also a math- Verification. Quantitative verification is a The reports are produced as the third and ematician and had technique for analysing quantitative aspects fourth in an occasional series, each one ad- responded to an of a system's design, such as timeliness, reli- dressing an area where mathematics and appeal to help fund a ability or performance. The report explains computing have come together to provide statue to commemo- the basics of quantitative verification, high- high-impact significant new capabil- rate Ramanujin in his lights a variety of successful applications ity, ready for mainstream industrial uptake. hometown in India. of the methods and seeks to spur further The papers also list active researchers and Some time later, Ken advances in the field. practitioner groups in the technical areas was still a teenager, The second report, co-authored by covered. The full series, including the two a flimsy airmail Clark Barrett, Daniel Kroening and Tom latest reports can be seen at www.lms.ac.uk/ envelope covered in Melham is titled Problem Solving for the about/committees/knowledge-transfer-pa- Indian stamps arrived 21st Century and focuses on Satisfiabil- pers. at their house. It was ity Modulo Theories (SMT). SMT is a com- The reports are written by senior research- a personal letter from puterised method for finding solutions to ers in each area, for a mixed audience in Ramanujin’s widow, business and industrial problems expressed business and government. The Computer Janika, to thank him mathematically by systems of constraints. Science Committee looks forward to devel- for the donation. The report explains the background to SMT oping the series of reports, producing more For the first time technology and presents areas where it has papers for publication in the near future. in its history, Trinity been successfully applied. The report also Artur Czumaj College at Cambridge sets out the potential for the widespread Chair, Computer Science Committee

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www.bristol.ac.uk Heilbronn Research Fellow LMS HARDY FELLOWSHIP LECTURE TOUR 2016 £35,256 - £39,685 Job number: ACAD101083 School of Mathematics – Fixed term contract staff – Full time Nominations Sought The School of Mathematics invites applications for one or more Research Fellowships in association with the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research. You will divide your time The Society is seeking nominations for a Hardy Lecture Tour in 2016. equally between your own research and the research programme of the Heilbronn Institute. The Hardy Fellow visits the UK for a period of about two weeks, and gives the Hardy Fellows are likely to be working in Bristol during the fellowship, though may have the Lecture at a Society meeting, normally held in London in early July. The Hardy Fellow will opportunity to work in London. also give at least six other lectures, on different topics, at other venues in the UK. Research areas of interest include but are not restricted to Number Theory and Algebraic The schedule is decided by the Programme Secretary in consultation with the Hardy Geometry, Algebra, Combinatorics, Probability, Quantum Information, Computation Fellow, and will be designed to allow as many UK mathematicians as possible to benefit Statistics and Data Science. from the Hardy Fellow's presence in the UK. Due to the nature of the Heilbronn Institute’s work, you must satisfy vetting before appointment. UK resident UK nationals will normally be able to meet this condition: other The holder of the Hardy Fellowship shall be a mathematician who has not been normally potential applicants should consult the Associate Director (see below) about their eligibility resident in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for a period of before applying. You may become a member of the USS pension scheme. Research at least five years, at the time of the award. Grounds for the award of the Fellowship expenses of at least £2,000 per annum will also be available. include: There is a salary supplement of £3.5K pa, in recognition of the distinctive nature of these 14 • the achievements of the Hardy Fellow, including work in, influence on, and general Fellowships. Payment of this supplement is conditional on a ﬁ nished thesis having been service to mathematics; lecturing gifts; and breadth of mathematical interests; accepted in ﬁ nal form, because we expect Heilbronn Fellows to hold PhDs before working at the Heilbronn Institute. • the overall benefit the UK mathematical community might derive from the visit; • the possibility of bringing to the UK a mathematician who might otherwise visit The Fellowships will be for three years, with a preferred start date in October 2015, though another date may be possible by agreement. rarely or never. The School of Mathematics is a supporter of the LMS Good Practice Scheme aiming at The Hardy Fellowship is not restricted to mathematicians working in any specific area advancing women’s careers in mathematics and we therefore particularly welcome of mathematics. Previous lecturers include: 2014 Percy Deift (NYU), 2012 Etienne Ghys applications from women for this post. http://www.maths.bris.ac.uk/admin/life/women/ (Lyon), 2010 Hiraku Nakajima (Kyoto), 2008 Shmuel Weinberger (Chicago and Hebrew Applications should include a statement of proposed research (not more than one side of A4). University). Candidates should ask three referees to send references by the closing date to: In 2015, the Society will host Nalini Joshi (University of Sydney) as the Special Hardy Ms Chrystal Cherniwchan, Heilbronn Manager, School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, Lecturer and she will visit the UK (and Scotland) during the Society’s 150th Anniversary Bristol, BS8 1TW, UK Tel. (+44) 0117 331 5260 Email: [email protected] year. (It is a candidate’s own responsibility to ensure that the reference letters are received by the closing date. These letters may be sent by email. The London Mathematical Society will fund: Enquiries about the fellowships may be addressed to the Associate Director, Dr Oliver Johnson, • the honorarium - £2,000 paid directly to the Hardy Fellow/Hardy Lecturer School of Mathematics, telephone (+44)(0) 117 928 8632, email: assoc-director-himr@ • travel expenses (including travel to/from the UK and within the UK) up to £2,500 bristol.ac.uk • accommodation expenses up to £1,500 To apply please visit our web site at www.bris.ac.uk/jobs, enter the vacancy number • a contribution to the host department to hold a dinner for the Hardy Fellow/Hardy into the job search and follow the link to the on line application process. Lecturer up to £100 per institution Closing date for applications is 27 November 2014. The host department(s) will be expected to provide office accommodation and the The University of Bristol is committed to equality and we value the diversity of our staff academic support normally offered to a distinguished visitor. and students. Nominations must have the support of the host department(s), and should be sent by the Head of Department to the Programme Secretary ([email protected]). The closing date for proposals is 31 January 2015. For further details and guidance on how to submit a nomination, please visit the Society’s website: www.lms.ac.uk/events/lectures/hardy-lectureship.

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www.bristol.ac.uk Heilbronn Research Fellow LMS HARDY FELLOWSHIP LECTURE TOUR 2016 £35,256 - £39,685 Job number: ACAD101083 School of Mathematics – Fixed term contract staff – Full time Nominations Sought The School of Mathematics invites applications for one or more Research Fellowships in association with the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research. You will divide your time The Society is seeking nominations for a Hardy Lecture Tour in 2016. equally between your own research and the research programme of the Heilbronn Institute. The Hardy Fellow visits the UK for a period of about two weeks, and gives the Hardy Fellows are likely to be working in Bristol during the fellowship, though may have the Lecture at a Society meeting, normally held in London in early July. The Hardy Fellow will opportunity to work in London. also give at least six other lectures, on different topics, at other venues in the UK. Research areas of interest include but are not restricted to Number Theory and Algebraic The schedule is decided by the Programme Secretary in consultation with the Hardy Geometry, Algebra, Combinatorics, Probability, Quantum Information, Computation Fellow, and will be designed to allow as many UK mathematicians as possible to benefit Statistics and Data Science. from the Hardy Fellow's presence in the UK. Due to the nature of the Heilbronn Institute’s work, you must satisfy vetting before appointment. UK resident UK nationals will normally be able to meet this condition: other The holder of the Hardy Fellowship shall be a mathematician who has not been normally potential applicants should consult the Associate Director (see below) about their eligibility resident in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for a period of before applying. You may become a member of the USS pension scheme. Research at least five years, at the time of the award. Grounds for the award of the Fellowship expenses of at least £2,000 per annum will also be available. include: There is a salary supplement of £3.5K pa, in recognition of the distinctive nature of these 15 • the achievements of the Hardy Fellow, including work in, influence on, and general Fellowships. Payment of this supplement is conditional on a ﬁ nished thesis having been service to mathematics; lecturing gifts; and breadth of mathematical interests; accepted in ﬁ nal form, because we expect Heilbronn Fellows to hold PhDs before working at the Heilbronn Institute. • the overall benefit the UK mathematical community might derive from the visit; • the possibility of bringing to the UK a mathematician who might otherwise visit The Fellowships will be for three years, with a preferred start date in October 2015, though another date may be possible by agreement. rarely or never. The School of Mathematics is a supporter of the LMS Good Practice Scheme aiming at The Hardy Fellowship is not restricted to mathematicians working in any specific area advancing women’s careers in mathematics and we therefore particularly welcome of mathematics. Previous lecturers include: 2014 Percy Deift (NYU), 2012 Etienne Ghys applications from women for this post. http://www.maths.bris.ac.uk/admin/life/women/ (Lyon), 2010 Hiraku Nakajima (Kyoto), 2008 Shmuel Weinberger (Chicago and Hebrew Applications should include a statement of proposed research (not more than one side of A4). University). Candidates should ask three referees to send references by the closing date to: In 2015, the Society will host Nalini Joshi (University of Sydney) as the Special Hardy Ms Chrystal Cherniwchan, Heilbronn Manager, School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, Lecturer and she will visit the UK (and Scotland) during the Society’s 150th Anniversary Bristol, BS8 1TW, UK Tel. (+44) 0117 331 5260 Email: [email protected] year. (It is a candidate’s own responsibility to ensure that the reference letters are received by the closing date. These letters may be sent by email. The London Mathematical Society will fund: Enquiries about the fellowships may be addressed to the Associate Director, Dr Oliver Johnson, • the honorarium - £2,000 paid directly to the Hardy Fellow/Hardy Lecturer School of Mathematics, telephone (+44)(0) 117 928 8632, email: assoc-director-himr@ • travel expenses (including travel to/from the UK and within the UK) up to £2,500 bristol.ac.uk • accommodation expenses up to £1,500 To apply please visit our web site at www.bris.ac.uk/jobs, enter the vacancy number • a contribution to the host department to hold a dinner for the Hardy Fellow/Hardy into the job search and follow the link to the on line application process. Lecturer up to £100 per institution Closing date for applications is 27 November 2014. The host department(s) will be expected to provide office accommodation and the The University of Bristol is committed to equality and we value the diversity of our staff academic support normally offered to a distinguished visitor. and students. Nominations must have the support of the host department(s), and should be sent by the Head of Department to the Programme Secretary ([email protected]). The closing date for proposals is 31 January 2015. For further details and guidance on how to submit a nomination, please visit the Society’s website: www.lms.ac.uk/events/lectures/hardy-lectureship.

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SOCIETY CONFERENCE GRANTS The Society is pleased to report that in 2013-14 awards totalling £241,477 were made in the support of mathematics conferences. Funds are granted to the organisers of conferences to be held in the LMS INVITED LECTURE SERIES 2016 United Kingdom, and may be used to cover Call for proposals the expenses of principal speakers, and to provide support for research students and Proposals for the Invited Lecture Series 2016 are now being sought. Proposers are invited Conference grants awarded during 2013-14 to suggest a topic and Lecturer for the lecture series, which they should be prepared to organise at their own institution or a suitable conference centre within the UK. Conference Dates, Place Applicant Grant Algebraic Methods in Theory of Differential 6-7 Dec 2013 J.P. Wang £4,130 The annual LMS Invited Lecturers scheme aims to bring a distinguished overseas math- and Difference Equations Kent ematician to the United Kingdom to present a small course of about ten lectures held London Stringology Day & London 6-7 Feb 2014 S. Pissis £600 over five days (Monday-Friday). Each course of Invited Lectures is on a major field of Algorithmic Workshop 2014 (LSD & LAW) current mathematical research, and is instructional in nature, being directed both at Recent Trends in Nonlinear PDE and 12-14 Feb 2014 N. Katzourakis £600 graduate students beginning research and at established mathematicians who wish to Calculus of Variations Reading learn about a field outside their own research specialism. Recent Advances in Operator-Related Feb 2014 O. Constantin £520 Function Theory Kent The format of annual Invited Lectures series is: Aspects of Random Walks 31 Mar - 3 Apr 2014 A. Wade £598 Durham 16 • meetings at which a single speaker gives a course of about ten expository lectures, Smart Energy Research Conference 3-4 Apr 2014 B. Mestel £950 examining some subject in depth; Open University • held over a five day period (Monday to Friday) during a University vacation; 18th UK Meeting on Integrable Models, 11-12 Apr 2014 C. Korff £1,100 • the meetings are residential and open to all interested. It is intended that the texts Conformal Field Theory and Related Topics Glasgow of the lectures given in the series shall be published. (ICFT2014) • In addition to full expenses, the lecturer is offered a fee for giving the course. The Mathematics of Brain Dynamics 8 Apr 2014 R. Nicks £3,020 • A grant is given to the host department to support attendance at the lectures. Birmingham Middle European Co-operation in Statistical 8-14 Apr 2014 R. Kenna £7,000 Enquiries about the Invited Lectures should be directed to the Programme Secretary at Mechanics (MECO) Coventry the Society ([email protected]). The deadline for the submission of proposals is Kent Spectral Theory Meeting 14-17 Apr 2014 I. Wood £7,000 6 February 2015. Kent BAMC 2014 28-30 Apr 2014 T.N. Phillips £5,000 For more information about the scheme and how to submit a proposal, please visit: Cardiff www.lms.ac.uk/events/lectures/invited-lecturer-proposals. Geometric Analysis 9 May 2014 G. Tinaglia £2,000 The Invited Lecturer for 2015 is Professor Michael Shapiro (Michigan State University), King's College London who will visit Durham from 16-20 March 2015 to give a series of lectures on Cluster Two Linked One-Day Colloquia in 14-15 May 2014 J. Skokan £3,800 Combinatorics QMUL algebras and integrable systems. New and Old Perspectives on Spectral 15-17 May 2014 W.D. Evans £6,500 Recent previous lecturers have been: Analysis: A Celebration of the Life and Cardiff Work of W.N. Everitt 2014 J. Väänänen (University of Helsinki and University of Amsterdam) Wales Mathematics Colloquium 2014 19-21 May 2014 D.H. Smith £1,965 Games, trees and models, Foundations of mathematics and second order logic Newtown, Powys and The mathematical theory of dependence and independence. UK National Conference on Geophysical, 22-23 May 2014 K. Zhang £2,600 2013 F. Bogomolov (NYU) Birational geometry and Galois groups Astrophysical and Industrial Magnetohy- Exeter 2012 A. Borodin (MIT) Determinantal point processes and representation theory drodynamics 2011 E. Candes (Stanford) Compressed sensing Mathematics of String Theory (MOST) 2-3 Jun 2014 S. Schafer-Nameki £4,400 King's College London 2010 M. Bramson (University of Minnesota) Stability of queuing networks One-Day Meeting in Combinatorics 5 Jun 2014 A. Scott £2,350 2009 A.D. Ionescu (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Black holes in vacuum: Oxford examples & uniqueness properties Rings of Differential and Integral Operators 5 Jun 2014 D. Robertz £600 Plymouth

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SOCIETY CONFERENCE GRANTS The Society is pleased to report that in for participants from Scheme 5 or former 2013-14 awards totalling £241,477 were Soviet Union countries. made in the support of mathematics con- For Postgraduate Research Conferences ferences. Funds are granted to the or- funds are granted to support speakers and ganisers of conferences to be held in the participants. Applicants wishing to apply LMS INVITED LECTURE SERIES 2016 United Kingdom, and may be used to cover for funding for a conference will find Call for proposals the expenses of principal speakers, and to further details on the Society’s website at provide support for research students and www.lms.ac.uk/content/research-grants. Conference grants awarded during 2013-14

Conference Dates, Place Applicant Grant Algebraic Methods in Theory of Differential 6-7 Dec 2013 J.P. Wang £4,130 and Difference Equations Kent London Stringology Day & London 6-7 Feb 2014 S. Pissis £600 Algorithmic Workshop 2014 (LSD & LAW) Recent Trends in Nonlinear PDE and 12-14 Feb 2014 N. Katzourakis £600 Calculus of Variations Reading Recent Advances in Operator-Related Feb 2014 O. Constantin £520 Function Theory Kent Aspects of Random Walks 31 Mar - 3 Apr 2014 A. Wade £598 Durham 17 Smart Energy Research Conference 3-4 Apr 2014 B. Mestel £950 Open University 18th UK Meeting on Integrable Models, 11-12 Apr 2014 C. Korff £1,100 Conformal Field Theory and Related Topics Glasgow (ICFT2014) The Mathematics of Brain Dynamics 8 Apr 2014 R. Nicks £3,020 Birmingham Middle European Co-operation in Statistical 8-14 Apr 2014 R. Kenna £7,000 Mechanics (MECO) Coventry Kent Spectral Theory Meeting 14-17 Apr 2014 I. Wood £7,000 Kent BAMC 2014 28-30 Apr 2014 T.N. Phillips £5,000 Cardiff Geometric Analysis 9 May 2014 G. Tinaglia £2,000 King's College London Two Linked One-Day Colloquia in 14-15 May 2014 J. Skokan £3,800 Combinatorics QMUL New and Old Perspectives on Spectral 15-17 May 2014 W.D. Evans £6,500 Analysis: A Celebration of the Life and Cardiff Work of W.N. Everitt Wales Mathematics Colloquium 2014 19-21 May 2014 D.H. Smith £1,965 Newtown, Powys UK National Conference on Geophysical, 22-23 May 2014 K. Zhang £2,600 Astrophysical and Industrial Magnetohy- Exeter drodynamics Mathematics of String Theory (MOST) 2-3 Jun 2014 S. Schafer-Nameki £4,400 King's College London One-Day Meeting in Combinatorics 5 Jun 2014 A. Scott £2,350 Oxford Rings of Differential and Integral Operators 5 Jun 2014 D. Robertz £600 Plymouth

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Belfast Harmonic Analysis Day 5 Jun 2014 Y-F Lin £590 AdditiveCombinatorics@Bristol 18 Sep 2014 J. Wolf £600 QUB Bristol Workshop and School on Random 23-27 Jun 2014 A.O. Stauffer £6,000 UK ‘Easter’ Probability Meeting 2014: From 15-19 Sep 2014 A. Mijatovic £5,000 Interacting Systems Bath Microscopic Randomness to Macroscopic Imperial College London Phenomena Mathematical Modelling of Biological and 10 June 2014 A. Kandler £600 Cultural Evolution City University Analytic Number Theory Workshop 17-19 Sep 2014 M. Lettington £4,330 Cardiff Filtering High Dimensional Complex 30 Jun - 2 Jul 2014 A.M. Stuart £6,000 Systems Warwick British Algebraic Geometry Meeting (BrAG) 22-24 Sep 2014 Warwick D. Maclagan £6,000 Integrable Systems in Newcastle 3- 4 Oct 14 B. Huard £2,040 17th Galway Topology Colloquium 30 Jun - 2 Jul 2014 C. Good £2,710 Northumbria Birmingham Continued Fractions and Geometry of 8 Oct 2014 O. Karpenkov £600 Category Theory 2014 29 Jun - 5 Jul 2014 J. Goedecke £6,000 Lattices Liverpool Cambridge Brian Hartley Memorial Day 8 Oct 2014 R. Stohr £1,830 Inner and Outer Model Theory 6-7 Jul 2014 P. Welch £1,915 Manchester Bristol An Afternoon in Low-Dimensions 10 Oct 2014 L. Watson £600 Symmetry In Graphs, Maps and Polytopes 7-11 Jul 2014 J. Siran £3,840 Glasgow (SIGMAP) West Malvern Maxwell Institute Graduate School on 8-10 Oct 2014 H. Gimperlein £1,170 Bianchi and Siegel Modular Forms 14-16 Jul 2014 Sheffield T. Berger £3,000 Evolution Equations Edinburgh Representations of Symmetric Groups, 14-16 Jul 2014 A. Evseev £4,430 Cluster Algebras and Preprojective Algebras 17-18 Oct 2014 M. Pugh £5,000 Hecke Algebras and Klr Algebras Birmingham Workshop Cardiff Projection and Slicing Theorems in Fractal 17-18 Jul 2014 T. Jordan £4,000 Complex Geometry and Symplectic 3 Nov 2014 W. Zhang £600 Geometry Bristol Topology Warwick Recent Advances in Orthogonal Polynomi- Jul 2014 A.F.S. Loureiro £600 Multiscale PDE Systems of Fluid Models and 31 Oct 2014 B. Cheng £577 als and its Interactions with Integrable Kent Applications in Geophysics Surrey 18 Systems X Brunel-Bielefeld Workshop on Random 12- 13 Dec 2014 D. Savin £4,970 Contact Geometry in Dimension Three and 28 Jul- 1 Aug 2014 C. Wendl £6,000 Matrix Theory and Its Applications Brunel University Higher University College London UK-Japan Winter School: 'Topology and 5- 8 Jan 2015 E. Ferapontov £4,110 Limit Theorems, Probability Approxima- 1 Sep 2014 F. Daly £600 Integrability' Loughborough tions and Related Areas Heriot-Watt Winter School on Bruhat-Tits Buildings 6-9 Jan 2015 J. Schillewaert £5,500 Imperial College London One Day Function Theory Meeting 1 Sep 2014 D. Sixsmith £1,815 DMH, London Elliptic Curves, Modular Forms and Iwasawa 25-27 Mar 2015 T. Dokchitser £5,000 Theory Cambridge Dislocations: The Legacy of Alan Head 1-2 Sept 2014 S. Fitzgerald £1,422 Oxford Simple Groups, Representations and 13-15 Jul 2015 T. Burness £6,000 Related Topics Cambridge Algebra, Combinatorics, Dynamics and 1-4 Sep 2014 N. Iyudu £5,200 Applications QUB 68th British Mathematical Colloquium 2016 21-24 Apr 2016 T. Dokchitser £12,500 Bristol Stable Homotopy Theory: Structured Ring 3-5 Sep 2014 N. Ray £6,000 Spectra and their Invariants Manchester Postgraduate Research Conference grants awarded during 2013-14 Jordan Geometric Analysis and Applications 3-5 Sep 2014 C. Chu £4,000 QMUL Conference Dates, Place Applicant/Organiser Grant British Logic Colloquium 2014 2-5 Sep 2014 D. Penazzi £4,910 Young Functional Analysts' 23-25 Apr 2014 Applicant: H.G. Dales £3,988 Central Lancashire Workshop Lancaster Organiser: M. Gnacik C*-Algebras, Classification and Dynamics 1-5 Sep 2014 J. Zacharias £7,000 Research Students' Conference in 28 Apr - 1 May 2014 Applicant: H. Le £3,690 Glasgow Probability and Statistics Nottingham Organisers: H. Pettitt, I. Perez 29th British Topology Meeting 8-10 Sep 2014 S. Theriault £5,000 Southampton Young Researchers in Mathemat- 30 Jun - 3 Jul 2014 Applicant: J. Robinson £4,000 ics (YRM) Warwick Organser: F. Bouyer Recent Advances in Discontinuous Galerkin 11-12 Sep 2014 A. Chernov £1,800 Methods Reading 16th Postgraduate Group Theory 24-27 Jun 2014 Applicant: C. Parker £4,000 Conference Birmingham Organiser: A. Paolini Introductory School on Derived Categories 8- 12 Sep 2014 M. Reid £7,000 Kent Algebra Day Postgraduate 21-24 Jul 2014 Applicant: S. Launois £3,707 and their Applications Warwick Kent Organisers: A. Kitchin, Generalized Functions (GF2014) 8-12 Sep 2014 J. Vickers £4,500 C. Lecoutre Southampton British Postgraduate Model 7-9 Jan 2015 Applicant: J. Pila £4,000 Theory Conference Oxford Organisers: V. Aslanyan, U. Valediction to Jeremy Gray 11- 12 Sep 2014 R. Brignall £2,000 Efem, L. Haykazyan, Milton Keynes B. Rigler, F. Sladek

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 18 10/23/2014 4:34:43 PM http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected] No. 441 November 2014

Belfast Harmonic Analysis Day 5 Jun 2014 Y-F Lin £590 AdditiveCombinatorics@Bristol 18 Sep 2014 J. Wolf £600 QUB Bristol Workshop and School on Random 23-27 Jun 2014 A.O. Stauffer £6,000 UK ‘Easter’ Probability Meeting 2014: From 15-19 Sep 2014 A. Mijatovic £5,000 Interacting Systems Bath Microscopic Randomness to Macroscopic Imperial College London Phenomena Mathematical Modelling of Biological and 10 June 2014 A. Kandler £600 Cultural Evolution City University Analytic Number Theory Workshop 17-19 Sep 2014 M. Lettington £4,330 Cardiff Filtering High Dimensional Complex 30 Jun - 2 Jul 2014 A.M. Stuart £6,000 Systems Warwick British Algebraic Geometry Meeting (BrAG) 22-24 Sep 2014 Warwick D. Maclagan £6,000 Integrable Systems in Newcastle 3- 4 Oct 14 B. Huard £2,040 17th Galway Topology Colloquium 30 Jun - 2 Jul 2014 C. Good £2,710 Northumbria Birmingham Continued Fractions and Geometry of 8 Oct 2014 O. Karpenkov £600 Category Theory 2014 29 Jun - 5 Jul 2014 J. Goedecke £6,000 Lattices Liverpool Cambridge Brian Hartley Memorial Day 8 Oct 2014 R. Stohr £1,830 Inner and Outer Model Theory 6-7 Jul 2014 P. Welch £1,915 Manchester Bristol An Afternoon in Low-Dimensions 10 Oct 2014 L. Watson £600 Symmetry In Graphs, Maps and Polytopes 7-11 Jul 2014 J. Siran £3,840 Glasgow (SIGMAP) West Malvern Maxwell Institute Graduate School on 8-10 Oct 2014 H. Gimperlein £1,170 Bianchi and Siegel Modular Forms 14-16 Jul 2014 Sheffield T. Berger £3,000 Evolution Equations Edinburgh Representations of Symmetric Groups, 14-16 Jul 2014 A. Evseev £4,430 Cluster Algebras and Preprojective Algebras 17-18 Oct 2014 M. Pugh £5,000 Hecke Algebras and Klr Algebras Birmingham Workshop Cardiff Projection and Slicing Theorems in Fractal 17-18 Jul 2014 T. Jordan £4,000 Complex Geometry and Symplectic 3 Nov 2014 W. Zhang £600 Geometry Bristol Topology Warwick Recent Advances in Orthogonal Polynomi- Jul 2014 A.F.S. Loureiro £600 Multiscale PDE Systems of Fluid Models and 31 Oct 2014 B. Cheng £577 als and its Interactions with Integrable Kent Applications in Geophysics Surrey 19 Systems X Brunel-Bielefeld Workshop on Random 12- 13 Dec 2014 D. Savin £4,970 Contact Geometry in Dimension Three and 28 Jul- 1 Aug 2014 C. Wendl £6,000 Matrix Theory and Its Applications Brunel University Higher University College London UK-Japan Winter School: 'Topology and 5- 8 Jan 2015 E. Ferapontov £4,110 Limit Theorems, Probability Approxima- 1 Sep 2014 F. Daly £600 Integrability' Loughborough tions and Related Areas Heriot-Watt Winter School on Bruhat-Tits Buildings 6-9 Jan 2015 J. Schillewaert £5,500 Imperial College London One Day Function Theory Meeting 1 Sep 2014 D. Sixsmith £1,815 DMH, London Elliptic Curves, Modular Forms and Iwasawa 25-27 Mar 2015 T. Dokchitser £5,000 Theory Cambridge Dislocations: The Legacy of Alan Head 1-2 Sept 2014 S. Fitzgerald £1,422 Oxford Simple Groups, Representations and 13-15 Jul 2015 T. Burness £6,000 Related Topics Cambridge Algebra, Combinatorics, Dynamics and 1-4 Sep 2014 N. Iyudu £5,200 Applications QUB 68th British Mathematical Colloquium 2016 21-24 Apr 2016 T. Dokchitser £12,500 Bristol Stable Homotopy Theory: Structured Ring 3-5 Sep 2014 N. Ray £6,000 Spectra and their Invariants Manchester Postgraduate Research Conference grants awarded during 2013-14 Jordan Geometric Analysis and Applications 3-5 Sep 2014 C. Chu £4,000 QMUL Conference Dates, Place Applicant/Organiser Grant British Logic Colloquium 2014 2-5 Sep 2014 D. Penazzi £4,910 Young Functional Analysts' 23-25 Apr 2014 Applicant: H.G. Dales £3,988 Central Lancashire Workshop Lancaster Organiser: M. Gnacik C*-Algebras, Classification and Dynamics 1-5 Sep 2014 J. Zacharias £7,000 Research Students' Conference in 28 Apr - 1 May 2014 Applicant: H. Le £3,690 Glasgow Probability and Statistics Nottingham Organisers: H. Pettitt, I. Perez 29th British Topology Meeting 8-10 Sep 2014 S. Theriault £5,000 Southampton Young Researchers in Mathemat- 30 Jun - 3 Jul 2014 Applicant: J. Robinson £4,000 ics (YRM) Warwick Organser: F. Bouyer Recent Advances in Discontinuous Galerkin 11-12 Sep 2014 A. Chernov £1,800 Methods Reading 16th Postgraduate Group Theory 24-27 Jun 2014 Applicant: C. Parker £4,000 Conference Birmingham Organiser: A. Paolini Introductory School on Derived Categories 8- 12 Sep 2014 M. Reid £7,000 Kent Algebra Day Postgraduate 21-24 Jul 2014 Applicant: S. Launois £3,707 and their Applications Warwick Kent Organisers: A. Kitchin, Generalized Functions (GF2014) 8-12 Sep 2014 J. Vickers £4,500 C. Lecoutre Southampton British Postgraduate Model 7-9 Jan 2015 Applicant: J. Pila £4,000 Theory Conference Oxford Organisers: V. Aslanyan, U. Valediction to Jeremy Gray 11- 12 Sep 2014 R. Brignall £2,000 Efem, L. Haykazyan, Milton Keynes B. Rigler, F. Sladek

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 19 10/23/2014 4:34:43 PM LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected]

EUROPEAN NEWS computing the numerical solution of math- VALEDICTION TO JEREMY GRAY ematical problems arising in applications. Report The following items are from EMS e-News This is an online and free access journal 12 (Sept 2014) www.euro-math-soc.eu/. in the framework of the CEDRAM initia- The conference to mark Jeremy Gray's contri- tive. For further details visit the website butions to the history of mathematics and his ECM Proceedings 1992-2008 at https://ojs.math.cnrs.fr/index.php/SMAI- retirement took place from 11 to 12 September The Proceedings of the first five European JCM. 2014 at the Parkside Hotel in Milton Keynes. Congress of Mathematics meetings, Forty three people gathered to hear 10 talks which took place respectively in Paris Jobs in industry over the two days, given by invited speakers who (1992), Budapest (1996), Barcelona (2000), The association EU-MATHS-IN (promoted comprised Jeremy's long-term friends, collabora- Stockholm (2004) and Amsterdam (2008), by the EMS and ECMI) has launched a new tors, former PhD students, and Jeremy himself. are now freely available online at www. service: a website for advertising jobs for The talks covered a variety of topics in the history euro-math-soc.eu/ECM/. mathematicians in companies or institu- of mathematics, ranging from the roles mathe- tions working on industrial contracts. Job maticians have played in Italian politics, through EMS Distinguished Speakers announcements can be found or deposited the mathematics of medieval China and studies Vera Serganova (UC Berkeley) will be an at the address www.eu-maths-in.eu/jobs. in the personal manuscripts of Isaac Newton, EMS Distinguished Speaker at the Aspects [Source: IMU-Net 66: July 2014 www.mathunion. to thoughts on what the history of mathemat- of Lie Theory Conference to be held in the org/imu-net] ics can teach to other areas of historical study. INdAM (Rome) from 7 to 10 January 2105. The concentration of distinguished academics For further information visit the website EMS Newsletter ensured that every talk inspired lively discussions at www1.mat.uniroma1.it/people/bravi/ The September afterwards. 20 indam2015.html. 2014 issue of On Thursday 11 September we heard talks Sylvia Serfaty (Université Paris 6) will be the Newsletter is from Snezana Lawrence (Bath Spa) on History of an EMS Distinguished Speaker at the joint available online Mathematics lessons for Mathematics Education AMS-EMS-SMP Meeting in Porto from 11 at tinyurl.com/ and Umberto Botazzini (Milan) on Mathematics to 14 June 2015. For further information jw5gyc5. and politics: the Italian case before lunch, and visit the website at http://aep-math2015. As every year, the Karine Chemla (Paris) Measuring the circle on spm.pt. September issue the sea-mirror, Leo Corry (Tel Aviv) The interac- focusses on the tion between arithmetic and geometry in the Special stamp issue Abel Prize, with In the framework of the International the interview of Year of Crystallography, declared by the the 2014 laureate UN, the Portuguese postal service, CTT, Yacov Sinai by has released five stamps and a souvenir M. Raussen and C. Skau, the speech in sheet illustrating the interplay between his honour given by the President of the crystallography and mathematics, geology, European Research Council (ERC) J.-P. Bour- physics, chemistry and biology. For this guignon, as well as an article on Math- issue the CTT had the collaboration of ematical Billiards and Chaos by Domokos several Portuguese scientific societies, Szász who gave the Science Lecture at the including the Portuguese Mathematical Norway Academy. Society. Stamps can be ordered at tinyurl. Other articles in this issue include: Oppor- com/lvlz4o3. tunities and Challenges in Electronic Publi- cation by J. Rákosník and O. Teschke, The New journal Support Given by the European Research SMAI-JCM is a newly launched journal Council to Mathematical Research by J.-P. of the Société de Mathématiques Appli- Bourguignon and Around ABC by P. Mi- quées et Industrielles (SMAI), France, that hailescu. publishes high quality research articles David Chillingworth on design and analysis of algorithms for LMS/EMS Correspondent Jeremy Gray (Open University) Klein's Galois Theory: underneath the icosahedron

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 20 10/23/2014 4:34:44 PM http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected] No. 441 November 2014 computing the numerical solution of math- VALEDICTION TO JEREMY GRAY ematical problems arising in applications. Report This is an online and free access journal in the framework of the CEDRAM initia- The conference to mark Jeremy Gray's contri- Euclidean tradition: a longue durée issue in the tive. For further details visit the website butions to the history of mathematics and his historiography of mathematics (if there ever at https://ojs.math.cnrs.fr/index.php/SMAI- retirement took place from 11 to 12 September was one) and Niccolò Guicciardini (Bergamo) On JCM. 2014 at the Parkside Hotel in Milton Keynes. Newton’s mathematical manuscripts: disciplinary Forty three people gathered to hear 10 talks boundaries, writing practices, and styles in the Jobs in industry over the two days, given by invited speakers who afternoon. The conference dinner, held in the The association EU-MATHS-IN (promoted comprised Jeremy's long-term friends, collabora- pub across the road from the hotel, provided by the EMS and ECMI) has launched a new tors, former PhD students, and Jeremy himself. further opportunity for lively discussions through service: a website for advertising jobs for The talks covered a variety of topics in the history the evening. mathematicians in companies or institu- of mathematics, ranging from the roles mathe- On Friday 12 September, the talks before lunch tions working on industrial contracts. Job maticians have played in Italian politics, through were given by Erhard Scholz (Wuppertal) whose announcements can be found or deposited the mathematics of medieval China and studies talk was entitled Localizing the geometry of at the address www.eu-maths-in.eu/jobs. in the personal manuscripts of Isaac Newton, special relativity: Why Cartan and Weyl posed [Source: IMU-Net 66: July 2014 www.mathunion. to thoughts on what the history of mathemat- their new ’problem of space’ differently, Moritz org/imu-net] ics can teach to other areas of historical study. Epple (Frankfurt) on Another look at mathemati- The concentration of distinguished academics cal modernism: Felix Hausdorff on dimension and EMS Newsletter ensured that every talk inspired lively discussions Jesper Lützen (Copenhagen) about Geometry, The September afterwards. forces and models. The final session after lunch 2014 issue of On Thursday 11 September we heard talks began with a short encomium from the Depart- 21 the Newsletter is from Snezana Lawrence (Bath Spa) on History of ment of Mathematics and Statistics by Phil Rippon available online Mathematics lessons for Mathematics Education (OU), before June Barrow-Green (OU) read the at tinyurl.com/ and Umberto Botazzini (Milan) on Mathematics many warm wishes to Jeremy from those who jw5gyc5. and politics: the Italian case before lunch, and couldn't make it to the meeting. The meeting As every year, the Karine Chemla (Paris) Measuring the circle on closed with two final talks: the first from June September issue the sea-mirror, Leo Corry (Tel Aviv) The interac- Barrow-Green (OU) about GD Birkhoff and Poin- focusses on the tion between arithmetic and geometry in the caré’s ‘Last Geometric Theorem’, and the second Abel Prize, with given by Jeremy Gray himself, in a the interview of talk entitled Klein's Galois Theory: the 2014 laureate underneath the icosahedron. Yacov Sinai by Needless to say, the talks M. Raussen and C. Skau, the speech in were frequently embellished by his honour given by the President of the numerous stories and photo- European Research Council (ERC) J.-P. Bour- graphs of Jeremy throughout his guignon, as well as an article on Math- career. The meeting was a fitting ematical Billiards and Chaos by Domokos tribute to Jeremy, although of Szász who gave the Science Lecture at the course nobody believes that his re- Norway Academy. tirement will cause any reduction Other articles in this issue include: Oppor- in his rate of output! Thanks to tunities and Challenges in Electronic Publi- the London Mathematical Society, cation by J. Rákosník and O. Teschke, The the British Society for the History Support Given by the European Research of Mathematics and the Interna- Council to Mathematical Research by J.-P. tional Commission on the History Bourguignon and Around ABC by P. Mi- of Mathematics for financial hailescu. support for this meeting. David Chillingworth Robert Brignall LMS/EMS Correspondent Jeremy Gray (Open University) The Open University Klein's Galois Theory: underneath the icosahedron

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 21 10/23/2014 4:34:46 PM LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected]

LANCASTER UNIVERSITY 50TH ANNIVERSARY THE BRITISH SCIENCE FESTIVAL Report This year, Lancaster University celebrates the that explains the numerical phenomena, even 50th anniversary of its foundation in 1964. in this specific example. But the audience This has been an exceptionally good year for To honour this occasion, the Department of was surely convinced that the conjectures mathematical sciences at the British Science Mathematics and Statistics organised two of Davies and Levitin must be true, even if Festival held at the University of Birmingham special ‘anniversary lectures’ on Friday 26 nobody could prove them. from 6 to 11 September 2014. There were nine September 2014. The second lecture was given by Professor events directly connected with presenting aspects The first lecture was given by Professor E. W. Hugh Woodin. Hugh now holds a joint of “maths” to a general audience, and adver- Brian Davies, FRS, of King’s College, London. position in the Departments of Mathematics tised in the flyer produced by the Mathematical Brian was the President of the LMS from 2007 and of Philosophy at Harvard University; he Sciences Section of the Festival. These included to 2009; he is the author of many papers and was previously Professor at the University of two of the Award Lectures, one on mathemati- seven books. His talk, based on a joint paper California, Berkeley, from 1989 to 2014. He cal models of the sun and the other on models of with Michael Levitin, was devoted to an easily is surely one of the leaders in our era in the animal behaviour. This year’s “Maths President”, stated question: what are the eigenvalues of quest to understand the fundamental nature Peter McOwan, professor of computer science a specific, elementary, non-self-adjoint n × n of sets and the real numbers, taking forward at QMUL, took part in two of the events, and matrix (with n large)? The answer, however, the journey of Gödel and Tarski into the far his Presidential Lecture was followed by a wine is not easily found. Elementary estimates reaches of higher cardinals. His lecture (almost) and food reception generously sponsored by the give some rough bounds, and impressive also marked the 50th anniversary of Gödel's Operational Research Society. The wide reach numerical calculations, shown on attractive Incompleteness Theorem. By 1964, we knew of mathematics, from the purest conjectures slides, lead to conjectures on other bounds. that CH is independent of the axioms ZFC in number theory to the most applied uses in 22 The latter have been verified in some cases, of set theory; now we know that very many physics, robotics and data processing, were a using surprisingly advanced mathematics. statements, including many in ‘main-stream’ strong feature of the programme. There was Brian illustrated beautifully the elusive nature mathematics, are independent. How satisfac- even a talk by Simon Singh on the mathemat- of this approach by showing a short video tory is this? Could (necessarily detailed) exam- ics of the Simpsons! Here I will try to convey indicating how the eigenvalue distribution ination of higher cardinals lead to a further the flavour of the nine “maths events”. We varies with n. We are far from a secure theory compelling axiom that ‘resolves’ CH and other were very lucky to have Matt Parker and Katie questions? Is ‘ultra-L’ Steckles available to introduce and wind up such an axiom? These each event in exuberant style — this gives an were very challenging excellent cohesion to the “maths programme” ideas, very clearly ar- ticulated. The two lectures kept a large audience engrossed for the afternoon; we are very grateful to the speakers. More information and additional pictures from the event are available on the department's website at www. lancaster.ac.uk/maths/ about-us/history/50th- anniversary-special-lec tures. H. Garth Dales © Jan Grabowski Lancaster University Hugh Woodin and Brian Davies Robin Wilson

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LANCASTER UNIVERSITY 50TH ANNIVERSARY THE BRITISH SCIENCE FESTIVAL Report that explains the numerical phenomena, even in this specific example. But the audience This has been an exceptionally good year for of the Festival. Each was surely convinced that the conjectures mathematical sciences at the British Science event attracted of Davies and Levitin must be true, even if Festival held at the University of Birmingham between 100 and nobody could prove them. from 6 to 11 September 2014. There were nine 200 people; in fact The second lecture was given by Professor events directly connected with presenting aspects I have never before W. Hugh Woodin. Hugh now holds a joint of “maths” to a general audience, and adver- seen maths events position in the Departments of Mathematics tised in the flyer produced by the Mathematical so uniformly well- and of Philosophy at Harvard University; he Sciences Section of the Festival. These included attended at these was previously Professor at the University of two of the Award Lectures, one on mathemati- annual Festivals. California, Berkeley, from 1989 to 2014. He cal models of the sun and the other on models of Much tweeting is surely one of the leaders in our era in the animal behaviour. This year’s “Maths President”, went on during and quest to understand the fundamental nature Peter McOwan, professor of computer science after the talks, and of sets and the real numbers, taking forward at QMUL, took part in two of the events, and the feedback from the journey of Gödel and Tarski into the far his Presidential Lecture was followed by a wine audiences was very reaches of higher cardinals. His lecture (almost) and food reception generously sponsored by the positive. I think the also marked the 50th anniversary of Gödel's Operational Research Society. The wide reach Festival was a good Incompleteness Theorem. By 1964, we knew of mathematics, from the purest conjectures advertisement for that CH is independent of the axioms ZFC in number theory to the most applied uses in mathematics in all of set theory; now we know that very many physics, robotics and data processing, were a its huge diversity. 23 statements, including many in ‘main-stream’ strong feature of the programme. There was From Dürer to mathematics, are independent. How satisfac- even a talk by Simon Singh on the mathemat- Sudoku, organized tory is this? Could (necessarily detailed) exam- ics of the Simpsons! Here I will try to convey in association with ination of higher cardinals lead to a further the flavour of the nine “maths events”. We the British Society Matt Parker compelling axiom that ‘resolves’ CH and other were very lucky to have Matt Parker and Katie for the History of questions? Is ‘ultra-L’ Steckles available to introduce and wind up Mathematics, took its theme from the engraving such an axiom? These each event in exuberant style — this gives an Melencolia I, celebrating its 500th birthday this were very challenging excellent cohesion to the “maths programme” year. The engraving contains features of geo- ideas, very clearly ar- metrical interest, notably a ticulated. perspective drawing of a The two lectures solid, and John Sharp took kept a large audience the audience through a brief engrossed for the history of perspective and then afternoon; we are very demolished several attempts grateful to the speakers. to identify the actual solid More information in the engraving, promising and additional pictures that he was working on the from the event are correct solution. Robin Wilson available on the depart- followed with a history of ment's website at www. Latin squares and magic lancaster.ac.uk/maths/ squares (there is a famous about-us/history/50th- one in the engraving), and anniversary-special-lec Peter McOwan concluded tures. the session with his customary H. Garth Dales panache, showing the Lancaster University audience some mathematical Robin Wilson magic — magic tricks that are

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 23 10/23/2014 4:34:52 PM LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected]

“doomed to succeed” because of their underly- ing problems in number theory. He took his encouraging girls to do science and presented ing mathematical structure. audience through the Lucas-Lehmer test for the the good news that brain plasticity—the ability Lisa Collins from the University of Lincoln primality of Mersenne numbers 2p–1; including to develop areas of the brain in response to works with a wide range of animal species as worksheets taking small values of p = 7, 11, 13 new stimuli and training—persists through life well as maths and she gave the Darwin Award which were passed round the audience for com- in both sexes, and that given the right environ- lecture What can maths tell us about what an pletion. This exercise illustrated very well two ment men and women equally can excel at the animal is feeling? She talked about gathering of the difficulties of “volunteer computing”: kind of reasoning required of mathematics and large amounts of data on animal behaviour and the results may not be correct and some people science, as witness the recent Fields medallist analysing it by means of fractals for long-term may never return their results! But the title of his Maryam Mirzakhani. behaviour and Markov chains for the short talk Seventeen or Bust referred to the Sierpiński Peter McOwan from QMUL in his Presidential term. Knowing how to recognize sequences conjecture: of all the numbers k such that k 2n+ Lecture When Fridges Attack: Big Data Meets of behaviour indicating high stress can help to 1, n = 1, 2, 3,…, is never prime, the smallest k is Intelligent Machines talked about benefits reduce outbreaks of aggression which seriously equal to 78557. In 2002 there were 17 potential and dangers of the Internet of Things and reduce the welfare of other animals. smaller candidates for k but this list is now down in particular the possibility of social interac- David Hand from Imperial College gave a to six. Iain did warn potential volunteers that tion with robotic devices. In a chess club for talk based on his recent book The Improbabil- their computer, running 24/7, might get hot… young children in Lisbon the “opponent” is ity Principle, the key message of which is that but there is a chance of glory: all prime number not an anonymous computer program but a extremely improbable events are common- related records in the last 17 years have been robot cat which has empathy with the children place: one of his five principles is that “With a achieved through volunteer computing. and consoles them when they make a wrong truly large number of opportunities any outra- Gina Rippon from Aston University asked move! But a driverless car might be hacked geous thing is likely to happen”. He explained Where Have All the Girl Scientists Gone? under to take the owner to a place he definitely 24 all five principles, such as “Choosing after the the general heading Sex, Maths and the Brain. did not want to go and, as the title point- Event” (how ever do companies produce jars of She made it clear that serious research into male/ ed out, a smart fridge has been hacked whole walnuts when most walnuts shatter when female brains faces many obstacles, not least to send out spam emails. A highlight of cracked?); and “Something Must Happen” (a the seemingly wilful incomprehension and mis- the event was a demonstration by Louis consortium bought, or attempted to buy, all representation typical of the popular press. She McCallum, also from QMUL, of Mortimer seven million tickets for a lottery where the dismissed a recent claim that we should give up the Musical Robot, which (who?) attemp- payout would exceed ted to produce the outlay). The most a drum accom- painful example he paniment to showed was a video a tune played of an unfortunate on a keyboard person being struck by a brave by lightning twice young volun- within a few seconds, teer from the but fortunately able audience. to struggle to his feet Max Little after each strike. from Aston Iain Bethune Univer- from the Univer- sity and MIT sity of Edinburgh talked about talked about dis- providing cli- tributed “volunteer nicians with computing”: accurate and thousands of detailed data people lending their about their computers’ processing patients by time to the collective means of a solution of outstand- Part of the Presidential Session audience Gina Rippon Pocket Doctor.

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 24 10/23/2014 4:34:54 PM http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected] No. 441 November 2014 ing problems in number theory. He took his encouraging girls to do science and presented audience through the Lucas-Lehmer test for the the good news that brain plasticity—the ability primality of Mersenne numbers 2p–1; including to develop areas of the brain in response to worksheets taking small values of p = 7, 11, 13 new stimuli and training—persists through life which were passed round the audience for com- in both sexes, and that given the right environ- pletion. This exercise illustrated very well two ment men and women equally can excel at the of the difficulties of “volunteer computing”: kind of reasoning required of mathematics and the results may not be correct and some people science, as witness the recent Fields medallist may never return their results! But the title of his Maryam Mirzakhani. talk Seventeen or Bust referred to the Sierpiński Peter McOwan from QMUL in his Presidential conjecture: of all the numbers k such that k 2n+ Lecture When Fridges Attack: Big Data Meets 1, n = 1, 2, 3,…, is never prime, the smallest k is Intelligent Machines talked about benefits equal to 78557. In 2002 there were 17 potential and dangers of the Internet of Things and smaller candidates for k but this list is now down in particular the possibility of social interac- to six. Iain did warn potential volunteers that tion with robotic devices. In a chess club for their computer, running 24/7, might get hot… young children in Lisbon the “opponent” is but there is a chance of glory: all prime number not an anonymous computer program but a related records in the last 17 years have been robot cat which has empathy with the children achieved through volunteer computing. and consoles them when they make a wrong Katie Steckles presenting the Rosalind Franklin Award Gina Rippon from Aston University asked move! But a driverless car might be hacked Lecture certificate to Ineke De Moortel Where Have All the Girl Scientists Gone? under to take the owner to a place he definitely the general heading Sex, Maths and the Brain. did not want to go and, as the title point- This might be as simple as a smartphone, or 25 She made it clear that serious research into male/ ed out, a smart fridge has been hacked smart wristwatch, carried around and constantly female brains faces many obstacles, not least to send out spam emails. A highlight of recording and transmitting data from your body the seemingly wilful incomprehension and mis- the event was a demonstration by Louis which the clinician can use to diagnose certain representation typical of the popular press. She McCallum, also from QMUL, of Mortimer conditions such as Parkinson’s disease with a dismissed a recent claim that we should give up the Musical Robot, which (who?) attemp- very high accuracy. The device can also be used ted to produce to engage people in clinical trials (at present a drum accom- 30% of all clinical trials attract no volunteers paniment to at all) because of the great reduction in time- a tune played wasting inconvenience afforded by a pocket on a keyboard (or wrist) device. Of course numerous ethical, by a brave legal, practical and medical issues were raised, young volun- and during and after the lecture these were the teer from the subject of lively discussion. audience. The event Life Saving Mathematics presented Max Little by Thomas Woolley, Helen Byrne and Gary from Aston Mirams (all from Oxford) focused on demon- Univer- strating how mathematics is being used at the sity and MIT very cutting edge of biology and medicine, in talked about such fields as stem cell motility, cancer tumour providing cli- growth and heart arrhythmias. Overall, the nicians with theme that ran through the three talks was that accurate and applied mathematics does not have to be hugely detailed data complicated in order to have a big influence. about their In her Rosalind Franklin Award Lecture, Our patients by Dynamical Sun: a 21st Century View, Ineke means of a De Moortel (St Andrews) was bold enough to Part of the Presidential Session audience Gina Rippon Pocket Doctor. include the equations of magnetohydrody-

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namics (MHD), as well as many striking anima- fractals, explaining the ideas and helping partici- tions and video sequences, when discussing the pants to make a tetrix, 3-dimensional analogue magnetic fields of the Sun and their relationship of the Sierpiński triangle, from 64 tetrahedra. to sunspots, solar flares (one occurred the day Finally the programme for schools had several before her talk), coronal mass ejections and the maths events, including Modular Arithmetic by “coronal heating problem”: why is the corona so Joe Watkins (Kent) and Maths Saves Lives by much hotter than the surface of the Sun? She, Louise Allison (OR Society), Noel-Ann Bradshaw LMS SOUTH WEST & SOUTH WALES like several of the speakers, emphasized the key (Greenwich), Julie Vile (Cardiff) and Waleed REGIONAL MEETING role of serious mathematics in the investigation Backler (Greenwich); Codes and Codebreaking 17 December 2014 of physical and other phenomena. She described by Corneliu Hoffman, Designing and Making a the disruptive effects of solar flares, from their Calculator by David Leppinen, Using Maths to Centre of Mathematical Sciences, Plymouth University effects on electricity supplies on Earth to the Survive the Zombie Apocalypse by Sara Jabbari danger they pose to residents at the Internation- and Using Maths to Win at Gameshows by Simon al Space Station and possible travellers to other Goodwin (the last four all from Birmingham). planets. Peter Giblin During the Family Weekend, Katie Steckles ran Chair of the Mathematical Sciences Section of three very popular Think Maths workshops on the Festival

150TH ANNIVERSARY CECIL KING TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP

The London Mathematical Society annually awards a £5,000 Cecil King Travel Scholar- ship in Mathematics, to a young mathematician of outstanding promise. The Schol- arship is awarded to support a period of study or research abroad, typically for a period of three months. Study or research in all areas of mathematics is eligible for the award. The award is competitive and based on a written proposal describing the intended programme of study or research abroad, and the benefits to be gained from such a visit. A shortlist of applicants will be selected for an interview during which they will be expected to make a short presentation on their proposal. Applicants must be nationals of the UK or the Republic of Ireland, either registered for or having completed a doctoral degree within 12 months of the closing date. Applications should be made using the form available on the Society's website (www.lms.ac.uk/content/cecil-king-travel-scholarship) or by contacting education@ lms.ac.uk. The closing date for applications is Friday 6 March 2015. It is expected that interviews will take place in London in late April or early May.

The Cecil King Travel Scholarship was established in 2001 by the Cecil King Memorial Fund. The award is made by the Council of the London Mathematical Society on the recommendation of the Cecil King Prize Committee, nominated by the Society's Education Committee.

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 26 10/23/2014 4:34:57 PM http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected] No. 441 November 2014 fractals, explaining the ideas and helping participants to make a tetrix, 3-dimensional analogue of the Sierpiński triangle, from 64 tetrahedra. Finally the programme for schools had several maths events, including Modular Arithmetic by Joe Watkins (Kent) and Maths Saves Lives by Louise Allison (OR Society), Noel-Ann Bradshaw LMS SOUTH WEST & SOUTH WALES (Greenwich), Julie Vile (Cardiff) and Waleed REGIONAL MEETING Backler (Greenwich); Codes and Codebreaking 17 December 2014 by Corneliu Hoffman, Designing and Making a Calculator by David Leppinen, Using Maths to Centre of Mathematical Sciences, Plymouth University Survive the Zombie Apocalypse by Sara Jabbari and Using Maths to Win at Gameshows by Simon Goodwin (the last four all from Birmingham). Peter Giblin Chair of the Mathematical Sciences Section of 2:45 pm Opening of the meeting the Festival 3:00 pm Rosemary Bailey (Queen Mary and St Andrews) Circular designs balanced for neighbours at distances one and two 27 4:00 pm Tea/Coffee 150TH ANNIVERSARY CECIL KING TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP 4:30 pm Marius van der Put (Groningen) Differential Galois theory The London Mathematical Society annually awards a £5,000 Cecil King Travel Scholar- ship in Mathematics, to a young mathematician of outstanding promise. The Schol- 7:00 pm Dinner at venue TBC arship is awarded to support a period of study or research abroad, typically for a period of three months. Study or research in all areas of mathematics is eligible for the award. These lectures are aimed at a general mathematical audience. All interested, The award is competitive and based on a written proposal describing the intended whether LMS members or not, are most welcome to attend this event. programme of study or research abroad, and the benefits to be gained from such a visit. A shortlist of applicants will be selected for an interview during which they will The meeting forms part of two workshops on Combinatorics and on Differential be expected to make a short presentation on their proposal. Algebra on 18 and 19 December 2014. For further details on the meeting and workshops please visit tinyurl.com/o88aou2 or contact the organisers thomas. Applicants must be nationals of the UK or the Republic of Ireland, either registered [email protected] and [email protected]. for or having completed a doctoral degree within 12 months of the closing date. To register for the meeting or the dinner please contact the organisers. The cost Applications should be made using the form available on the Society's website of the dinner will be approximately £30, including drinks. (www.lms.ac.uk/content/cecil-king-travel-scholarship) or by contacting education@ lms.ac.uk. The closing date for applications is Friday 6 March 2015. It is expected that There are funds available to contribute in part to the expenses of members of the interviews will take place in London in late April or early May. Society or research students to attend the meeting and workshop. Requests for support, including an estimate of expenses, may be addressed to the organisers. The Cecil King Travel Scholarship was established in 2001 by the Cecil King Memorial Fund. The award is made by the Council of the London Mathematical Society on the recommendation of the Cecil King Prize Committee, nominated by the Society's Education Committee.

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INTEGRABLE DAY AT LOUGHBOROUGH

A half-day workshop on Geometric Struc- tures and Integrability will be held at Lough- borough University on 28 November 2014 in Room KG107 from 1.30 pm. The speakers are: • David Calderbank (Bath) Affine buildings and discrete integrable geometry • Boris Doubrov (Minsk) Fundamental invariants for systems of ODEs of higher order • Maciej Dunajski (Cambridge) We are seeking candidates for 16 fully funded PhD positions, as part of the 2015 cohort of How to recognise a conformally Einstein the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in the Mathematics of Planet Earth (MPE), metric? jointly run by Imperial College London and the University of Reading. Successful applicants will have (or expect to receive) a first class honours degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Physics or closely related subject. All applications will be considered jointly by the partner universities.

The centre offers an innovative four year PhD in programme in Mathematics and its applications to weather, oceans and climate science. The first year takes the form of an 28 MRes (Masters by Research) course, leading to a jointly awarded degree from Imperial RANDOM PLANAR STRUCTURES College London and the University of Reading. The following 3 years focus on the PhD project, and lead to the award of a PhD from either Imperial or Reading. Places on the CDT 20 – 24 April 2015 offer full funding (fees plus tax-free stipend). Whilst most places are available only to UK in association with the Newton Institute programme and EU students, there is limited funding for international students. Random Geometry Successful candidates will choose, by the end of the first year, the particular area of 12 January - 3 July 2015 research that suits their individual taste and talents from the broad areas of Analysis, Statistics, Probability, Fluid Mechanics, Dynamical Systems, Numerical Analysis, Scientific Computing, and will work on PhD projects. All projects will have relevance and applicability to research in weather, oceans and climate, and some of them will be in collaboration with a weather or climate forecasting centre or other industrial partner. Prior knowledge of environmental science is not a requirement.

The MPE CDT students will graduate with substantial, interdisciplinary experience in developing and applying mathematical techniques to challenging and urgent problems. They will acquire teamwork, communication, management and leadership skills through our close cooperation with our external partners from research institutions and industry. Integrated in the programme are a number of bespoke training activities and professional development opportunities.

Further details on the programme and the application procedure can be obtained at www.mpecdt.org

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 28 10/23/2014 4:34:57 PM http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected] No. 441 November 2014

INTEGRABLE DAY AT LOUGHBOROUGH

A half-day workshop on Geometric Struc- • Boris Kruglikov (Tromso) tures and Integrability will be held at Lough- Symmetric integrable deformations of borough University on 28 November 2014 in dispersionless PDEs Room KG107 from 1.30 pm. The speakers are: The meeting is part of a collaborative • David Calderbank (Bath) workshop series on Classical and Quantum Affine buildings and discrete integrable Integrability, supported by an LMS Scheme 3 geometry grant, involving Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds • Boris Doubrov (Minsk) and Loughborough Universities. Funds Fundamental invariants for systems of may be available to support the attendance ODEs of higher order of research students. Enquiries should be • Maciej Dunajski (Cambridge) addressed to the organiser: A.P.Veselov@ We are seeking candidates for 16 fully funded PhD positions, as part of the 2015 cohort of How to recognise a conformally Einstein lboro.ac.uk. For further information visit the the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in the Mathematics of Planet Earth (MPE), metric? website at http://tinyurl.com/mtyxmzu. jointly run by Imperial College London and the University of Reading. Successful applicants will have (or expect to receive) a first class honours degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Physics or closely related subject. All applications will be considered jointly by the partner universities.

The centre offers an innovative four year PhD in programme in Mathematics and its applications to weather, oceans and climate science. The first year takes the form of an 29 MRes (Masters by Research) course, leading to a jointly awarded degree from Imperial RANDOM PLANAR STRUCTURES College London and the University of Reading. The following 3 years focus on the PhD project, and lead to the award of a PhD from either Imperial or Reading. Places on the CDT 20 – 24 April 2015 offer full funding (fees plus tax-free stipend). Whilst most places are available only to UK in association with the Newton Institute programme and EU students, there is limited funding for international students. Random Geometry Successful candidates will choose, by the end of the first year, the particular area of 12 January - 3 July 2015 research that suits their individual taste and talents from the broad areas of Analysis, Statistics, Probability, Fluid Mechanics, Dynamical Systems, Numerical Analysis, Scientific Organisers: Itai Benjamini (Weizmann Institute of Science), Nathanael Berestycki (Uni- Computing, and will work on PhD projects. All projects will have relevance and applicability versity of Cambridge), Jean Francois Le Gall (Université Paris-Sud 11), Scott Sheffield to research in weather, oceans and climate, and some of them will be in collaboration with (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). a weather or climate forecasting centre or other industrial partner. Prior knowledge of environmental science is not a requirement. Background: The goal of this workshop will be to highlight recent progress and outstanding problems concerning our understanding of the geometry of random planar The MPE CDT students will graduate with substantial, interdisciplinary experience in structures, both discrete and continuous. Part of the workshop will focus on random developing and applying mathematical techniques to challenging and urgent problems. planar maps, a topic at the intersection of probability, combinatorics, and statistical They will acquire teamwork, communication, management and leadership skills through physics. Random planar maps form a basic building block for Liouville quantum gravity, our close cooperation with our external partners from research institutions and industry. and are thought to be related to the exponential of the Gaussian Free Field and other Integrated in the programme are a number of bespoke training activities and professional conformally invariant scaling limits. A major recent progress is the proof by Miermont development opportunities. and by Le Gall, simultaneously, that a uniform random p-angulation (for p = 3 and p ≥4 Further details on the programme and the application procedure can be obtained at even) converges as a metric space, after rescaling, to the Brownian map. Other parts of www.mpecdt.org the workshop will detail progress on two-dimensional models of statistical physics such as percolation, the self-avoiding walk, and dimer models. Closing date of the receipt of applications is 1 February 2015. Further information and application forms are available from the website: www.newton.ac.uk/programmes/RGM/rgmw04

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obituary into his nineties. standing proofs. PIETER MULLENDER In 1952 followed Piet's promotion to full Each chapter is rounded off with bullet point professor at the VU. During the stormy years summaries and future reading, which will Professor Pieter Mullender, 1964-1973 he was the Director of the Math- encourage readers to explore the main ideas of who was elected a member ematics Department at the VU. In those years, the text in more detail. of the London Mathemati- under his guidance, the department developed In places I have found the book to be a bit re- cal Society on 18 November from a small institute with a few professors and petitive and slow going, but again, this might 1944, died on 31 July 2014, a limited research program into a modern de- suit some students especially those who love aged 97. partment covering a broad spectrum of research mathematics but sometimes struggle with under- Marinus Kaashoek writes: areas in pure and applied mathematics, with a standing major concepts like “abstract objects” Pieter Mullender (Piet for staff of almost 50 persons. He arranged the first and “proofs”. Students’ experience with these his colleagues and friends) appointments in computer science at the VU. concepts is limited during previous education, studied mathematics and Stormy years also because in this period a wave and this “real mathematics” might come as a did his PhD at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in of democratization flooded across the Dutch shock to them. The book explains them in a Amsterdam. He prepared his thesis under super- universities. Time for research was limited, and gentle way, in contrast to many lecturers “brief” vision of the number theorist Jurjen F. Koksma Piet had to solve organizational problems and “you should know this” approach. during World War Two. His first publication instead of mathematical ones which he did with The second part is not really a collection of study appeared in 1944, and he defended his thesis success. Piet was a great lecturer, highly appreci- skills, it is more a collection of advices and tips just a few months after the German occupation ated and admired by the students. For the new on understanding university life: how to write of the Netherlands had ended. Geometry of mathematics professors appointed at the VU numbers and complex function theory became during his time as director — I was one of them BASIC GAMBLING MATHEMATICS: THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE NEON by Mark Bellman, CRC 30 his research areas. In 1949 Piet was appointed — he was a generous governor, leaving a lot of Press, 2014, 284 pages, £38.99, US$59.95, ISBN 978-1-4822-0893-1. as a lecturer at his Alma Mater. The two years freedom to new appointees, mathematically as before he worked in Cambridge UK (St John's well otherwise. Often, a good math- College) as a postdoctoral student in the group His wife Fina, also a VU educated mathemati- ematical model for of L.J. Mordell. His thesis had been in Dutch, and cian, passed away in 2013. During his last year roulette, dice, or cards, under Mordell's supervision he wrote a second Piet suffered from aphasia but remained cheerful or for gambles such as one in English. The Cambridge years made him and full of stories. He is gratefully remembered lotteries or keno, iden- an LMS supporter; he read the LMS Newsletter by his students and former colleagues. tifies some number N of distinct equally likely outcomes. The reviews winning chances, and HOW TO STUDY FOR A MATHS DEGREE by Lara Alcock, Oxford University Press, 2012, pp 288, the size of any house £13.99, ISBN 978-0-19-966132-9. advantage, then follow This book is written students. via accurate counting. in a very modern and It is divided into two parts; “Mathematics” This book examines a vast array of gambles that informal way which and “Study skills”. The first part is actually study are found in legal (and illegal) betting establish- will suit younger gener- skills or the skills that mathematicians should ments, almost entirely focussed on the USA. It ations who are used to have when studying any specific mathematical assumes a very limited background in math- modern ways of com- content. But, do not expect to learn any specific ematics – for example, it labels the standard munication through mathematical topics from it, that isn’t the aim of formulae for choosing r objects from a set of n blogs and Facebook. the book. A useful topic that is covered in the objects as “advanced counting arguments”. The book is written in first section is that students should learn the art Although the book begins with a general a way that is mostly of communicating their mathematics to others, account of the ideas of probability as they based on personal ex- and to themselves for revision purposes. Another pertain to random experiments with equally perience and not on important topic is a chapter covering proofs. likely outcomes, it is not intended as a textbook scientifically tested and Many students complain about the “proofs” for the broader subject. Rather, it offers advice, proven methods. However, its modern “how to” in our teaching and Chapter 5 shines light onto backed up by detailed calculations, on standard approach can be very popular amongst current the different types and the importance of under- gambles found in casinos, and on the variations

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 30 10/23/2014 4:34:58 PM http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected] No. 441 November 2014 into his nineties. standing proofs. up lecture notes, how to ask for help, who can In 1952 followed Piet's promotion to full Each chapter is rounded off with bullet point support you in your studying, what the lecturers/ professor at the VU. During the stormy years summaries and future reading, which will professors are like?.. This is advice that lecturers 1964-1973 he was the Director of the Math- encourage readers to explore the main ideas of repeatedly tell students about: time manage- ematics Department at the VU. In those years, the text in more detail. ment, revision plans, etc...so it is nice to have it under his guidance, the department developed In places I have found the book to be a bit re- summarised in a book like this. from a small institute with a few professors and petitive and slow going, but again, this might I would recommend this book to all students a limited research program into a modern de- suit some students especially those who love who are starting their studies of Mathematics as a partment covering a broad spectrum of research mathematics but sometimes struggle with under- major, but also to those who are still in school and areas in pure and applied mathematics, with a standing major concepts like “abstract objects” thinking about their choice of University subjects. staff of almost 50 persons. He arranged the first and “proofs”. Students’ experience with these It is a useful, small book, which could easily be appointments in computer science at the VU. concepts is limited during previous education, read on the bus to/from University, in breaks Stormy years also because in this period a wave and this “real mathematics” might come as a between the lectures, or in your spare time. Each of democratization flooded across the Dutch shock to them. The book explains them in a section is self-contained and rounded and you universities. Time for research was limited, and gentle way, in contrast to many lecturers “brief” can jump from topic to topic, especially with the Piet had to solve organizational problems and “you should know this” approach. second part of the book. After that it should be instead of mathematical ones which he did with The second part is not really a collection of study kept on the shelf for reference when needed. success. Piet was a great lecturer, highly appreci- skills, it is more a collection of advices and tips Zuzana Hucki ated and admired by the students. For the new on understanding university life: how to write Nottingham Trent University mathematics professors appointed at the VU during his time as director — I was one of them BASIC GAMBLING MATHEMATICS: THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE NEON by Mark Bellman, CRC — he was a generous governor, leaving a lot of 31 Press, 2014, 284 pages, £38.99, US$59.95, ISBN 978-1-4822-0893-1. freedom to new appointees, mathematically as well otherwise. Often, a good math- used to spice up these games. Most of these His wife Fina, also a VU educated mathemati- ematical model for “extras” turn out to have a far larger house cian, passed away in 2013. During his last year roulette, dice, or cards, advantage, but in their zeal to hook in potential Piet suffered from aphasia but remained cheerful or for gambles such as customers, casinos may offer bets that favour and full of stories. He is gratefully remembered lotteries or keno, iden- the punter, or even free bets. Savvy readers can by his students and former colleagues. tifies some number discover here how best to exploit these baits. N of distinct equally Each of the seven chapters ends with a col- likely outcomes. The lection of exercises, with answers given for half reviews winning chances, and of them. Useful tables list the basic data for a HOW TO STUDY FOR A MATHS DEGREE by Lara Alcock, Oxford University Press, 2012, pp 288, the size of any house variety of games – the outcome probabilities, £13.99, ISBN 978-0-19-966132-9. advantage, then follow the payoff odds, optimal play, and the house students. via accurate counting. advantage. Blackjack, with its myriad variations It is divided into two parts; “Mathematics” This book examines a vast array of gambles that on the basic rules, has its own chapter, with and “Study skills”. The first part is actually study are found in legal (and illegal) betting establish- advice on how to assess the house advantage skills or the skills that mathematicians should ments, almost entirely focussed on the USA. It according to the precise game on offer. The have when studying any specific mathematical assumes a very limited background in math- final chapter runs through a plethora of general content. But, do not expect to learn any specific ematics – for example, it labels the standard betting strategies that have been suggested, mathematical topics from it, that isn’t the aim of formulae for choosing r objects from a set of n and explains their deficiencies patiently. the book. A useful topic that is covered in the objects as “advanced counting arguments”. When you are contemplating a bet, do notice first section is that students should learn the art Although the book begins with a general whether the payoff odds are quoted as “5 to of communicating their mathematics to others, account of the ideas of probability as they 1” or “5 for 1”, the latter being a sneaky way and to themselves for revision purposes. Another pertain to random experiments with equally of making odds of 4 to 1 look better. Reading important topic is a chapter covering proofs. likely outcomes, it is not intended as a textbook this book would be time well spent for anyone Many students complain about the “proofs” for the broader subject. Rather, it offers advice, contemplating a vacation in Las Vegas. in our teaching and Chapter 5 shines light onto backed up by detailed calculations, on standard John Haigh the different types and the importance of under- gambles found in casinos, and on the variations University of Sussex

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 31 10/23/2014 4:34:59 PM LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected]

EXPERIENCING MATHEMATICS: WHAT DO WE DO, WHEN WE DO MATHEMATICS? by Reuben Hersh, American Mathematical Society, 2014, pp 291, pb £30.50, US$39.00, ISBN-13: 978-0- AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 8218-9420-0. This book is a collection of 30 articles and essays on the philosophy of mathematics ARNOLD written by the author (some in collabo- Swimming Against the Tide ration with Philip J. Davis) between 1981 and 2013. The articles are preceded by a Edited by Boris A. Khesin, University of Toronto & manifesto, a self-introduction and a chro- Serge L. Tabachnikov, ICERM, Brown University and Pennsylvania State University nology which put the choice of articles in perspective and succinctly summarises Vladimir Arnold, an eminent mathematician of our time, is known both for his mathematical results, which are many and prominent, Hersh’s lifetime thinking about the nature and for his strong opinions, often expressed in an uncompromising and purpose of and provoking manner. His dictum that “Mathematics is a part of mathematics. physics where experiments are cheap” is well known. Hersh was born in This book consists of two parts: selected articles by and an New York in 1927 to interview with Vladimir Arnold, and a collection of articles about Polish and Ukrainian him written by his friends, colleagues, and students. The book is immigrants, and generously illustrated by a large collection of photographs, some studied English Lit- never before published. The book presents many a facet of this erature at Harvard. extraordinary mathematician and man, from his mathematical He worked at the Sci- 32 discoveries to his daredevil outdoor adventures. entific American for Nov 2014 173pp 9781470416997 Paperback £22.50 a few years, then as machinist until 1956, when an accident at work in which he lost THE POINCARÉ CONJECTURE half his right thumb Edited by James Carlson, Clay Mathematics Institute prompted him to a life The conference to celebrate the resolution of the Poincaré changing decision: conjecture, which is one of the Clay Mathematics Institute’s seven going back to univer- Millennium Prize Problems, was held at the Institut Henri Poincaré sity and study maths. in Paris. Several leading mathematicians gave lectures providing He started as an un- an overview of the conjecture - its history, its influence on the development of mathematics, and, finally, its proof. dergraduate in 1957 at New York Univer- This volume contains papers based on the lectures at that sity, and received a conference. Taken together, they form an extraordinary record of the work that went into the solution of one of the great problems PhD under the supervision of Peter Lax in of mathematics. 1962. After two years at Stanford (where he A co-publication of the AMS and Clay Mathematics Institute met and co-wrote an article in the Scientific American with Paul Cohen about the unde- Clay Mathematics Proceedings, Vol. 19 cidability of the Continuum Hypothesis), he Nov 2014 181pp 9780821898659 Paperback £53.50 took a permanent job at the University of New Mexico, where he taught from 1964 to 2011. Reuben Hersh has worked on partial To order AMS titles visit differential equations, random evolutions, www.eurospanbookstore.com/ams probability and linear operator equations, CUSTOMER SERVICES: FURTHER INFORMATION: but he is best known for his writings on Tel: +44 (0)1767 604972 Tel: +44 (0)20 7240 0856 the nature and practice of mathematics. In Fax: +44 (0)1767 601640 Fax: +44 (0)20 7379 0609 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] distributed by Eurospan|group 1983 he and co-author Philip J. Davis won the National Book Award in Science for

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 32 10/23/2014 4:34:59 PM http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected] No. 441 November 2014

EXPERIENCING MATHEMATICS: WHAT DO WE DO, WHEN WE DO MATHEMATICS? by Reuben Hersh, American Mathematical Society, 2014, pp 291, pb £30.50, US$39.00, ISBN-13: 978-0- AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 8218-9420-0. This book is a collection of 30 articles and their book The Mathematical Experience. essays on the philosophy of mathematics Hersh writes from the point of view of a ARNOLD written by the author (some in collabo- working mathematician rather than a phi- Swimming Against the Tide ration with Philip J. Davis) between 1981 losopher of mathematics, and indeed his and 2013. The articles are preceded by a starting point is ‘Mathematics is that what Edited by Boris A. Khesin, University of Toronto & manifesto, a self-introduction and a chro- mathematicians do’. Thus he concerns Serge L. Tabachnikov, ICERM, Brown University and Pennsylvania State University nology which put the choice of articles himself with the meaning and purpose of in perspective and succinctly summarises mathematics as a human activity, but his Vladimir Arnold, an eminent mathematician of our time, is known both for his mathematical results, which are many and prominent, Hersh’s lifetime thinking about the nature reasoning has far reaching consequences and for his strong opinions, often expressed in an uncompromising and purpose of for the very nature and provoking manner. His dictum that “Mathematics is a part of mathematics. of mathematics and physics where experiments are cheap” is well known. Hersh was born in mathematical reality. This book consists of two parts: selected articles by and an New York in 1927 to Hersh’s main con- interview with Vladimir Arnold, and a collection of articles about Polish and Ukrainian clusion is not only him written by his friends, colleagues, and students. The book is immigrants, and that mathematics can generously illustrated by a large collection of photographs, some studied English Lit- be seen as a human never before published. The book presents many a facet of this erature at Harvard. activity, but rather extraordinary mathematician and man, from his mathematical He worked at the Sci- that it is fundamen- discoveries to his daredevil outdoor adventures. entific American for tally a human activity 33 Nov 2014 173pp 9781470416997 Paperback £22.50 a few years, then as and a part of human machinist until 1956, culture. Thus his when an accident at philosophy of math- work in which he lost ematics fits in the THE POINCARÉ CONJECTURE half his right thumb social constructivism Edited by James Carlson, Clay Mathematics Institute prompted him to a life or humanist view (as The conference to celebrate the resolution of the Poincaré changing decision: Hersh prefers to call conjecture, which is one of the Clay Mathematics Institute’s seven going back to univer- his own views) which Millennium Prize Problems, was held at the Institut Henri Poincaré sity and study maths. considers mathemat- in Paris. Several leading mathematicians gave lectures providing He started as an un- ics a social construct, an overview of the conjecture - its history, its influence on the development of mathematics, and, finally, its proof. dergraduate in 1957 that is, a product of at New York Univer- culture. This volume contains papers based on the lectures at that sity, and received a His philosophical conference. Taken together, they form an extraordinary record of the work that went into the solution of one of the great problems PhD under the supervision of Peter Lax in thinking not only clarifies and demystifies of mathematics. 1962. After two years at Stanford (where he what mathematicians do for the outsider, A co-publication of the AMS and Clay Mathematics Institute met and co-wrote an article in the Scientific but also for the working mathematician, to American with Paul Cohen about the unde- who is forced to reflect on the mathemati- Clay Mathematics Proceedings, Vol. 19 cidability of the Continuum Hypothesis), he cal experience and to confront established Nov 2014 181pp 9780821898659 Paperback £53.50 took a permanent job at the University of dogma about what mathematics is about. New Mexico, where he taught from 1964 to (Indeed, a stereotypical ‘ivory tower’ math- 2011. Reuben Hersh has worked on partial ematician might feel a ‘philosophical slap To order AMS titles visit differential equations, random evolutions, on the face’ by reading some of Hersh’s www.eurospanbookstore.com/ams probability and linear operator equations, conclusions.) CUSTOMER SERVICES: FURTHER INFORMATION: but he is best known for his writings on Hersh does not shy away from the most Tel: +44 (0)1767 604972 Tel: +44 (0)20 7240 0856 the nature and practice of mathematics. In fundamental questions, such as the foun- Fax: +44 (0)1767 601640 Fax: +44 (0)20 7379 0609 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] distributed by Eurospan|group 1983 he and co-author Philip J. Davis won dations of mathematics, the nature of the National Book Award in Science for mathematical objects, what a mathemati-

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cal proof is, and even gives a complete see them as ‘bonus material’ collected from CALENDAR OF EVENTS definition of mathematics. (I am afraid that the author’s extensive writings. This calendar lists Society meetings and you will have to read either this book or It is refreshing to occasionally step back other mathematical events. Further some of the articles in it to find out Hersh’s and talk about mathematics rather than information may be obtained from the answers.) doing it, and this book provides solid rhe- appropriate LMS Newsletter whose number If you are familiar with Hersh’s previous torical ammunition, particularly against is given in brackets. A fuller list is given work, or have read about the philosophy the dogmatic mathematician in your de- on the Society’s website (www.lms.ac.uk/ of mathematics, this book may not be as partment. I can also recommend this revealing as for someone (like this reviewer) book for the right reasons, particularly content/calendar). Please send updates and who had not given much serious thought to the working mathematician who ever corrections to [email protected]. or reading to such fundamental questions. wondered about the nature or foundations And I must admit that I found the author’s of mathematics alternative to the Plato- november 2014 arguments powerful and compelling, and nism-Formalism duality. 3 Complex Geometry and Symplectic conveyed with great clarity and concision. I conclude with a quote from the book “... Topology Meeting, Warwick (440) The articles are divided into three groups: mathematics is a humanistic study. It is one 14 LMS AGM, London (441) The first group forms the core of the book of the humanities”, which made me tem- 22 Early Career Mathematicians' Autumn where Hersh’s philosophical thinking is porarily less unhappy with the decision of IMA Conference, Queen Mary University discussed; the second part is a somehow my university to merge Mathematics with London (438) more tangential collection of articles; and the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences 26–28 Engineering and Control of Natural the third part is a selection of six book (although I doubt Reuben Hersh’s humanist and Synthetic Microbial Communities, INI reviews by Hersh. The second and third view had anything to do with it). Workshop, Cambridge (439) 34 part are somehow less relevant to the main Ruben Sanchez-Garcia 28 Geometric Structures and Integrability theme of the book, and perhaps one can University of Southampton Workshop, Loughborough (441)

December 2014 8–10 Applications of Game Theory IMA Conference, Oxford (438) Automorphic forms and Galois representations have played a central 12-13 Random Matrix Theory Workshop, role in the development of modern number theory, with the former coming to prominence via the celebrated Langlands program and Brunel University (440) Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. This two-volume collection 15–17 Maths in Signal Processing IMA arose from the 94th LMS-EPSRC Durham Symposium on ‘Automorphic Forms and Galois Representations’ in July 2011, the aim of which was Conference, Birmingham (438) to explore recent developments in this area. The expository articles and 15-19 Regulating Systemic Risk: Insights from research papers across the two volumes reflect recent interest in p-adic Mathematical Modelling, INI Workshop, methods in number theory and representation theory, as well as recent progress on topics from anabelian geometry to p-adic Hodge theory Cambridge (440) and the Langlands program. The topics covered in volume one include 16–17 Mathematical Challenges of Big Data the Shafarevich Conjecture, effective local Langlands correspondence, p-adic L-functions, the fundamental lemma, and other topics of IMA, Woburn House, London (438) contemporary interest. 17 LMS SW & South Wales Regional Volume 1 Meeting, Plymouth (441) London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, No. 414 18 Combinatorics Workshop, Plymouth (441) Paperback | 9781107691926 | October 2014 | £50.00 19 Differential Algebra Workshop, Plymouth www.cambridge.org/lms414 (441)

Minhyong Kim, University of Oxford Volume 2 Fred Diamond, King’s College London London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, No. 415 Paperback | 9781107693630 | October 2014 | £50.00 January 2015 Payman L. Kassaei, King’s College London 5-8 Topology and Integrability, UK-Japan www.cambridge.org/lms415 Winter School, Loughborough (440) 5–16 Periodic, Almost-Periodic, and www.cambridge.org Random Operators Introductory School, INI,

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 34 10/23/2014 4:35:00 PM http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk [email protected] No. 441 November 2014 see them as ‘bonus material’ collected from CALENDAR OF EVENTS Cambridge (439) the author’s extensive writings. This calendar lists Society meetings and 6–9 Bruhat-Tits Buildings Winter Meeting, It is refreshing to occasionally step back Imperial College London (439) other mathematical events. Further and talk about mathematics rather than 9 Research in Mathematics and its information may be obtained from the doing it, and this book provides solid rhe- Applications IMA Conference, Bath (438) appropriate LMS Newsletter whose number torical ammunition, particularly against 12–23 Random Geometry Instructional is given in brackets. A fuller list is given the dogmatic mathematician in your de- Workshop for Younger Researchers, INI, on the Society’s website (www.lms.ac.uk/ partment. I can also recommend this Cambridge (439) book for the right reasons, particularly content/calendar). Please send updates and 16 150th Anniversary Launch, London (441) to the working mathematician who ever corrections to [email protected]. 26–30 Conformally Invariant Scaling Limits, wondered about the nature or foundations INI Workshop, Cambridge (439) of mathematics alternative to the Plato- november 2014 nism-Formalism duality. 3 Complex Geometry and Symplectic February 2015 I conclude with a quote from the book “... Topology Meeting, Warwick (440) 4–8 CERME 9, Prague (439) mathematics is a humanistic study. It is one 14 LMS AGM, London (441) 27 Mary Cartwright Lecture, London of the humanities”, which made me tem- 22 Early Career Mathematicians' Autumn porarily less unhappy with the decision of IMA Conference, Queen Mary University mARCH 2015 my university to merge Mathematics with London (438) 9-13 Stochastic Systems Simulation and the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences 26–28 Engineering and Control of Natural Control ICMS Workshop, Edinburgh (440) (although I doubt Reuben Hersh’s humanist and Synthetic Microbial Communities, INI 16-20 LMS Invited Lectures, Professor view had anything to do with it). Workshop, Cambridge (439) Michael Shapiro (Michigan State University) Ruben Sanchez-Garcia 28 Geometric Structures and Integrability Cluster algebras and integrable systems, 35 University of Southampton Workshop, Loughborough (441) Durham (441) 19 Mathematics 2015 IMA Conference, Mary Ward House, London (438) December 2014 23-27 Galerkin Methods with Applications 8–10 Applications of Game Theory IMA in Weather and Climate Forecasting ICMS Conference, Oxford (438) Workshop, Edinburgh (440) Automorphic forms and Galois representations have played a central 12-13 Random Matrix Theory Workshop, 30–31 Flood Risk Assessment IMA role in the development of modern number theory, with the former Conference, Swansea (438) coming to prominence via the celebrated Langlands program and Brunel University (440) Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. This two-volume collection 15–17 Maths in Signal Processing IMA 30–2 Apr Joint Meeting of the BMC and arose from the 94th LMS-EPSRC Durham Symposium on ‘Automorphic BAMC, Cambridge (438) Forms and Galois Representations’ in July 2011, the aim of which was Conference, Birmingham (438) to explore recent developments in this area. The expository articles and 15-19 Regulating Systemic Risk: Insights from research papers across the two volumes reflect recent interest in p-adic Mathematical Modelling, INI Workshop, methods in number theory and representation theory, as well as recent april 2015 progress on topics from anabelian geometry to p-adic Hodge theory Cambridge (440) 1 BMC-BAMC 2015 - LMS 150th Anniversary and the Langlands program. The topics covered in volume one include 16–17 Mathematical Challenges of Big Data Celebration Day, Cambridge (441) the Shafarevich Conjecture, effective local Langlands correspondence, p-adic L-functions, the fundamental lemma, and other topics of IMA, Woburn House, London (438) 7 LMS Northern Regional Meeting, contemporary interest. 17 LMS SW & South Wales Regional Lancaster (441) Volume 1 Meeting, Plymouth (441) 7-11 Homotopical Algebra and Geometry London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, No. 414 18 Combinatorics Workshop, Plymouth (441) workshop, Lancaster (441) Paperback | 9781107691926 | October 2014 | £50.00 19 Differential Algebra Workshop, Plymouth 13-17 Mathematics for Health and Disease www.cambridge.org/lms414 (441) ICMS Workshop, Edinburgh (440) 20 Mathematical Education of Engineers Minhyong Kim, University of Oxford Volume 2 Fred Diamond, King’s College London London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, No. 415 IMA Conference, Loughborough (438) Paperback | 9781107693630 | October 2014 | £50.00 January 2015 Payman L. Kassaei, King’s College London 20-24 Gradient Flows: From Theory to 5-8 Topology and Integrability, UK-Japan www.cambridge.org/lms415 Application ICMS Workshop, Edinburgh Winter School, Loughborough (440) (440) 5–16 Periodic, Almost-Periodic, and 20-24 Random Planar Structures INI www.cambridge.org Random Operators Introductory School, INI, Workshop, Cambridge (441)

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 35 10/23/2014 4:35:00 PM LMS-FUNDED MEETING Valediction to Jeremy Gray held at Milton Keynes from 11 to 12 September 2014 (report on page 21)

June Barrow-Green (Open University) Jesper Lützen (Copenhagen) GD Birkhoff and Poincaré’s ‘Last Geometric Theorem’ Geometry, forces and models

Erhard Scholz (Wuppertal) Leo Corry (Tel Aviv) Localizing’ the geometry of special relativity: Why Cartan and The interaction between arithmetic and geometry in the Weyl posed their new ’problem of space’ differently Euclidean tradition: a longue durée issue in the historiography of mathematics (if there ever was one)

Karine Chemla (Paris) Umberto Bottazzini (Milan) Measuring the circle on the sea-mirror Mathematics and politics: the Italian case

November 2014 proofs COPY.indd 36 10/23/2014 4:35:07 PM