AMS in the Twentieth Century This is a series of nine essays that appeared in the editorial column of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society during 1999 and 2000. The authors are Allyn Jackson (J) and Anthony W. Knapp (K). The titles and dates of publication are as follows: May 1999, Maxime Bocher, (K). August 1999, The Bulletin and the Start of the Proceedings, (K). September 1999, Frank Nelson Cole, (K). November 1999, The Development of the New Notices, (K). January 2000, The Start of the New Notices, (K). April 2000, A Different Era of Advertising, (J). May 2000, AMS Prizes, (K). August 2000, Sites of the AMS Headquarters, (J,K). September 2000, The Development of the New Notices, (K). Notices Editorial of the American Mathematical Society The AMS in Retrospect EDITOR: Anthony W. Knapp At this time toward the end of the century, some publications are reviewing the past hun- ASSOCIATE EDITORS: dred years to see what can be learned, while others are predicting the future, always a Hyman Bass, Robert J. Daverman, Susan hazardous thing to do. The Notices has already published some predictions about math- Forum Editor Friedlander ( ), Martin Golubitsky ematics in the coming century, and now it undertakes a small project of review, high- (Covers Editor), Victor Guillemin, David Jerison, Steven Krantz, Susan Landau, Andy Magid lighting some of the giant figures and activities of the AMS during the past one hundred (Opinion Column Editor), Judith Roitman, years. This column and some future ones between now and the end of 2000 quote from Mary Beth Ruskai, Mark Saul two history books: A Semicentennial History of the American Mathematical Society SENIOR WRITER and DEPUTY EDITOR: 1888–1938 by Raymond Clare Archibald and A History of the Second Fifty Years, Ameri- Allyn Jackson can Mathematical Society 1939–1988 by Everett Pitcher, both published by the AMS. MANAGING EDITOR: Sandra Frost —Anthony W. Knapp CONTRIBUTING WRITER: Elaine Kehoe PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Muriel Toupin, Anne-Marie Epp AMS in the Twentieth Century PRODUCTION: Lori Nero, Donna Salter, Deborah Smith, Peter Sykes, Maxine Wolfson ADVERTISING SALES: Anne Newcomb Maxime Bôcher SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Subscription prices We begin our series about the important figures and activities of the AMS during the past for Volume 46 (1999) are $309 list; $247 institu- century with Maxime Bôcher (1867–1918), in whose memory the Society created the tional member; $185 individual member. (The sub- scription price for members is included in the an- Bôcher Prize. This prize, given every five years, was recently awarded to Demetrios nual dues.) A late charge of 10% of the subscription Christodoulou, Sergiu Klainerman, and Thomas Wolff (Notices, April 1999). price will be imposed upon orders received from Maxime Bôcher was the tenth president of the Society, 1909–1910, and an important nonmembers after January 1 of the subscription mathematician, but we describe only his role in connection with the Transactions of the year. Add for postage: Surface delivery outside the AMS. We quote from the Semicentennial History about his work as editor, a post he held United States and India—$15; in India—$36; expe- dited delivery to destinations in North America— during 1908–1909 and 1911–1913: $35; elsewhere—$70. Subscriptions and orders for “He was a fine critic, ever free with constructive suggestions. For many years he AMS publications should be addressed to the Amer- served as an assoc. ed. of [the Annals of Mathematics]. He was never very strong, and long ican Mathematical Society, P.O. Box 5904, Boston, he had to combat ill health.…” MA 02206-5904. All orders must be prepaid. The founding of the Transactions is described elsewhere in the Semicentennial History: ADVERTISING: Notices publishes situations wanted and classified advertising, and display ad- “Prof. W. F. Osgood’s [editor of the Transactions, 1910, and eighth president of the vertising for publishers and academic or scientific AMS, 1905–1906] vivid reminiscences of events…may be inserted here. organizations. “Toward the end of the nineties the need of a journal for the publication of SUBMISSIONS: Letters to the Editor, Forum pieces, mathematical material became more and more pressing. The American Jour- articles, and reviews may be sent to the editor by e-mail at [email protected], by fax at 516- nal of Mathematics [published by Johns Hopkins University] inclined natu- 751-5730, or by postal mail at P. O. Box 333, East Se- rally enough to the European groups from which its contributions had come tauket, NY 11733. Electronic submissions are pre- in the past, and although in financial straits, failed to discern new strength ferred. Correspondence with the managing editor in young mathematicians of this country.… may be sent to [email protected]. NOTICES ON e-MATH: Most of this publication is “Finally a meeting was called in New York by Fiske [founder and seventh pres- available electronically through e-MATH, the Soci- ident of the AMS, 1903–1904] to consider the project …with Fiske in the chair, ety’s resource for delivering electronic products and Dr. McClintock [second president of the AMS, 1891–1994] on his right and services. To access the Notices on e-MATH, use the URL: Bôcher on his left.… http://www.ams.org/notices/ “Bôcher was a man with a passion for fair dealing and with extraordinary insight Those with VT100-type terminals or without WWW browsing software can connect to e-MATH via Tel- and judgment. …[H]e turned to McClintock and said: ‘Will Doctor McClintock net (telnet e-math.ams.org; login and password be so good as to state his views for us?’ In substance Dr. McClintock said that are “e-math”) and use the Lynx option from the main he should consider the founding of a journal which would be a rival or competitor menu. of the American Journal unfortunate, and that such a step would be of the na- [Notices of the American Mathematical Society is ture of an unfriendly act toward The Johns Hopkins. Here was opposition with published monthly except bimonthly in June/July a vengeance, for Dr. McClintock was one of the strongest mathematicians among by the American Mathematical Society at 201 the older men, and he had been President of the American Mathematical Soci- Charles Street, Providence, RI 02904-2213. Peri- odicals postage paid at Providence, RI, and addi- ety. It was a most unpleasant difficulty that now suddenly confronted us. And tional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address then, with something akin to genius, Bôcher’s great powers of diplomacy came change notices to Notices of the American Mathe- to the rescue. With all the grace and dignity and charm which were a part of his matical Society, P.O. Box 6248, Providence, RI 02940- simple and direct nature he said: ‘Would Doctor McClintock feel it improper for 6248.] Publication here of the Society’s street ad- the Society to publish its Transactions?’ dress and the other information in brackets above is a technical requirement of the U.S. Postal Service. “No, certainly not. Any society may publish its Transactions. With that for- All correspondence should be mailed to the post mula, the one word ‘Transactions’ replacing an opprobrious word like ‘Jour- office box, not the street address. Tel: 401-455- 4000; e-mail: [email protected]. nal’ or ‘Annals’ or ‘Acta’, the whole opposition collapsed and good relations © Copyright 1999 by the were established. The power of a word! American Mathematical Society. “…[In April 1899] the committee reported to the Council that towards the support of All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. the publication of the Transactions, the subscriptions of one hundred dollars a year for five The paper used in this journal is acid-free and years had been practically guaranteed by representatives of each of nine institutions; a tenth falls within the guidelines established was added to this list before the first number (96 p.) was published in January 1900.” to ensure permanence and durability. —A.W.K. 516 NOTICES OF THE AMS VOLUME 46, NUMBER 5 Notices AMS in the Twentieth Century of the American Mathematical Society The Bulletin and EDITOR: Anthony W. Knapp ASSOCIATE EDITORS: the Start of the Proceedings Hyman Bass, Robert J. Daverman, Susan Friedlander (Forum Editor), Martin Golubitsky This is the second in a series of columns about important figures and activities of (Covers Editor), Victor Guillemin, David Jerison, the AMS during the past century. It is based on histories of the first and second fifty Steven Krantz, Susan Landau, Andy Magid (Opinion Column Editor), Judith Roitman, years of the AMS, written by Raymond Clare Archibald and Everett Pitcher, respec- Mary Beth Ruskai, Mark Saul tively. The first column in the series discussed Maxime Bôcher and the founding of SENIOR WRITER and DEPUTY EDITOR: the Transactions. Allyn Jackson The Bulletin was the original publication of the Society, and the Proceedings grew MANAGING EDITOR: Sandra Frost out of it. Concerning the founding of the Bulletin in 1891, Archibald writes, “Presi- CONTRIBUTING WRITER: Elaine Kehoe dent McClintock reported…that the proposed bulletin should…contain, primarily, PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Muriel Toupin, Anne-Marie Epp historical and critical articles, accounts of advances in different branches of math- PRODUCTION: ematical science, reviews of important new publications, and general mathematical Lori Nero, Donna Salter, Deborah Smith, news and intelligence. …The Bulletin started out with the title, Bulletin of the New Peter Sykes, Maxine Wolfson York Mathematical Society. A Historical and Critical Review of Mathematical Science, ADVERTISING SALES: Anne Newcomb and the only change in title during the next thirty years was the substitution of the SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Subscription prices word ‘American’ for ‘New York’, beginning with the fourth v[olume].” This change for Volume 46 (1999) are $309 list; $247 institu- occurred in 1894 at the time of the renaming of the Society, and the numbering of tional member; $185 individual member.