THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER No. 355 January 2007 Forthcoming ANNUAL REPORT to provide an accessible account of the year’s activity, aimed at Society ON ACTIVITIES members and designed for Meetings In previous years, the Society’s more general use. This report Annual Report has comprised a focuses on the activities under- 2007 mixture of formal elements taken in our financial year Friday 9 February required by law combined with 1 September 2005 – 31 August London an update on the Society’s 2006, and has been assembled P. Maini activity, arranged according to from summaries provided by A. Stevens the Committee that runs the the Chair of each of the (Mary Cartwright activity. However, new rules Society’s Committees. Lecture) from the Charity Commission As with the Trustees’ Report, [page 4] (known as SORP 2005) require the ARA is now available to 1 the Society to produce a view online (www.lms.ac.uk/ Friday 20 April ‘Trustees’ Report’ according to a policy) and hard copies are Midlands Regional set of very specific guidelines, available on request from the Meeting mapping each activity to one Administrator, Susan Oakes, at Loughborough or more of our charitable objec- De Morgan House. As this is a Y. Colin de Verdière tives. The Trustees’ Report for trial run of the format, the F. Kirwan 2005/06 and audited accounts Finance and General Purposes O. Viro were approved at the Committee is keen to gauge November Council meeting and whether members would wish Wednesday 30 May are now available on the to have hard copies posted to SW and South Wales Society’s website and on them by default on an annual Regional Meeting, request from the Administrator, basis; you are invited to submit Cardiff Susan Oakes, at De Morgan your views on this to presi- House. [email protected]. Friday 22 June However, the formal style of Copies have been sent to London the Trustees’ Report is not nec- each UK mathematics depart- essarily one that would be ment for ‘coffee table’ use; it is Thursday 25 October immediately suitable for wider hoped that the production of Northern Regional consumption. Specifications the ARA will give everyone a Meeting placed on the structure and chance to find out about the Sheffield content of the Trustees’ Report very broad range of activities result in a formal document that the Society undertakes in Friday 23 November rather than a report that could order to advance, disseminate AGM, London be used to communicate what and promote mathematical Presidential Address the Society does. knowledge. This year, an Annual Report Martin Smith on Activities has been created Administrative Officer (Council) THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER No. 355 January 2007 LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY TREASURER’S REPORT matics, as well as providing a new 2006-07 Council income stream. TO THE AGM 2006 It has been another good year for the As a result of the annual election, membership of the Council is the following: In the financial year 1 September 2005 Society’s publishing activities, which to 31 August 2006, the Fixed Assets of generated a surplus of £726k (against President Professor J.F. Toland FRS, FRSE (Bath) the Society increased in value from £679k, restated, last year). Again I Vice-Presidents Professor D.G. Larman (University College London) £11.4m to £12.3m. This was the first full should draw attention to the essential Dr F.A. Rogers (King’s College London) year in which the Society’s investments role that the publications’ surplus plays Treasurer Professor N.M.J. Woodhouse (Oxford) have been managed by Morgan Stanley. in enabling the Society to support math- General Secretary Professor C.M. Goldie (Sussex) The new managers have been set the ematical activity in the United Kingdom, Programme Secretary Dr S.A. Huggett (Plymouth) target of producing a real return of at and congratulate the Publisher Susan Publications Secretary Professor K.J. Falconer FRSE (St Andrews) least 4% pa. The management of the Hezlet for the energetic and forward- Education Secretary Professor C.J. Budd (Bath) portfolio conforms with the Trustee Act. looking way in which she pursues the Members-at-Large Professor A.V. Borovik (Manchester) The Society drew on the Building and Society’s interests. Council continues to Dr D.E. Buck (Imperial College London) Development Reserve Fund to pay for be concerned about the implications of Professor S.N. Chandler-Wilde (Reading) the refurbishment of the basement of proposed changes in scientific publish- Professor R.T. Curtis (Birmingham) De Morgan House, and will replenish ing and their potential impact on the Professor H.G. Dales (Leeds) the reserve at the rate of £60,000 pa financial health of then Society. 2 Dr P.J. Davies (Strathclyde) over the next few years. It now stands at The total spent on grants fell from 3 Professor A.M. Etheridge (Oxford) £260,000 (reduced from £441,852 at the £253k (restated) to £246k, the main con- Dr I.G. Gordon (Glasgow) beginning of the year); the Printing and tribution being a small fall of £10k in Sir John Kingman FRS (Isaac Newton Institute) Publication Reserve Fund is unchanged Programme Committee grants. These Professor R.M. Thomas (Leicester) at £1.20m. Other reserve funds are used figures are the totals paid out during Professor A.J. Wilkie (Oxford) to hold gifts and bequests to the Society the year, not the totals awarded. There Dr E. Winstanley (Sheffield) (£23k, unchanged on last year), to meet is some delay between awarding grants the costs of grants that have been and paying them, so the figures in the awarded but not yet claimed (£106k), accounts to some extent reflect the deci- and to separate Compositio from other sions of the Committee in the preceding publishing activities (balance trans- financial year. LMS Newsletter ferred at the end of the year). Total membership fell slightly from General Editor: Dr D.R.J. Chillingworth ([email protected]) The accounts have been restructured 2572 to 2542, the drop being almost Reports Editor: Dr S.A. Huggett ([email protected]) in compliance with the new standard, entirely in the number of Associate Reviews Editor: Mr A.J.S. Mann ([email protected]) SORP 2005. Support costs are now members. Subscription income rose from Administrative Editor: Miss S.M. Oakes ([email protected]) attributed to the different sectors of £61k to £65k. Editorial office address: London Mathematical Society, De Morgan House, activity. For comparison purposes, last Once again, there are no dramatic 57-58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS (tel: 020 7637 3686; fax: 020 7323 3655; year’s accounts have been restated in changes to report. I again acknowledge email: [email protected], web: www.lms.ac.uk) the new format. Support costs include the enormous contribution that Susan Designed by CHP Design (tel: 020 7240 0466, email: [email protected], web: www.chpdesign.com) staff costs, office and building costs, Oakes and Peter Cooper make to the Publication dates and deadlines: published monthly, except August. and IT. The total in the financial year orderly conduct of our affairs, and par- Items and advertisements by first day of the month prior to publication. was £728k, a small rise on last year’s fig- ticularly the contribution of Ephrem Information in the Newsletter is free to be used elsewhere unless otherwise stated; attribution is ure of £704k (restated). The main contri- Belay, who bore the brunt of the intro- requested when reproducing whole articles. The LMS cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy bution to the rise was in the costs of the duction of SORP 2005, and saw through of information in the Newsletter. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the views or policy new conference facility, offset by falls the induction of our new auditors, of the London Mathematical Society. elsewhere. The conference facility pro- Kingston Smith LLP. Charity registration number: 252660. vides a much improved environment for N.M.J. Woodhouse the Society’s work in promoting mathe- Treasurer THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER No. 355 January 2007 NEWS FROM THE IMU epitomises for me the irrationality of draw- Editorial ing an artificial distinction between pure and applied mathematics. Professor Itô has gen- Dear Reader, erously donated his prize money to IMU in LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 2006 was an eventful year for mathematics, a support of young mathematicians (see year which saw the very successful International www.mathunion.org/General/Prizes/2006/). Congress of Mathematicians in Madrid, togeth- To the new IMU President László Lovász, MARY CARTWRIGHT LECTURE er with the extraordinary mathematical story, the incoming IMU Executive Committee, and that touched people worldwide, of Grigori all those who now begin to organize ICM Perelman and the Poincaré conjecture. 2010 in Hyderabad, I wish every success for Friday 9 February 2007 To all those who worked to make the ICM their important work for our community. University College London such a great occasion and anyone who has With my best wishes to all, organized a big event will know that the John Ball 3.30 – 4.30 P. Maini (Oxford) work does not stop when the last participant says goodbye the world of mathematics owes News from the Developing Emergent Phenomena – Fact or Fiction? an enormous debt of gratitude. Everyone, Country Study Group 4.30 – 5.00 Tea from His Majesty King Juan Carlos to the stu- IMU has received its third major grant from dent helpers, played their part admirably, the Niels Henrik Abel Memorial Fund 4 5.00 – 6.00 A. Stevens (Leipzig) and one should not forget the families who towards its 2006 activities in sustaining and 5 Mary Cartwright Lecture supported those who worked long hours to promoting mathematics and mathematicians Interacting Cell Systems: An Example for bring the Congress into being.