CMS NOTES de la SMC Volume 31 No. 1 February / fevrier´ 1999 In this issue / Dans ce numero´ FROM THE it did at Kingston. I want to thank PRESIDENT’S DESK all the organizers of the meeting, no- Editorial ..................... 2 tably the joint Meeting Directors, Tony Geramita and David Wehlau, and the Letter to the Editors .......... 3 Local Arrangements Committee, Leo Jonker and Fady Alajaji, for all their Education Notes ............. 3 work. The session organizers, many from the Kingston mathematical com- Du bureau du president´ ...... 5 munity, displayed great initiative and are the key reason for the success of Awards / Prix ................ 7 the meeting. Let me now turn to a number of Camel Bytes ................. 9 developments within the CMS, all of which were discussed at the December Meetings / Reunions´ Richard Kane Executive and Board meetings. Firstly, CMS Summer 1999 Meeting the Kingston meeting marked the offi- Reunion´ d’et´ e´ 1999 de la SMC 10 (voir la page 5 pour la version cial establishment of one of the most About AARMS ............. 19 franc¸aise) exciting developments within the CMS In this report, I will focus on three in recent years, namely the CMS En- Abstract Form / Formulaire de initiatives which were considered by dowment Grants (EG) Program. The resum´ e´ .................... 20 the CMS Executive and Board at our Board accepted the final report of the Registration form / Formulaire Kingston Winter meeting in Decem- Endowment Fund Task Force, chaired d’inscription ............... 22 ber. But before moving to these items, by Eddy Campbell, with its recommen- I want to warmly congratulate all of dation for the establishment of the EG Call for Nominations / Appel de the organizers of the meeting for their program. For many years we have Candidatures very successful efforts. The meet- been steadily building up the Endow- Awards / Prix ............... 24 ing had just under 400 registrants, a ment Fund to a current value of $1.46 new record for participation in a CMS million. Now we will have the oppor- Associate Editors - CJM and meeting. This large number of peo- tunity to begin putting the Endowment CMB/Redacteurs´ associes´ - ple was clearly attracted by the ex- Fund to work. We anticipate that the JCMetBCM............... 26 tensive program involving over 200 CMS Endowment Grants program will Elections 1999 / Elections´ speakers in 16 different sessions cov- distribute approximately $60,000 an- 1999 ...................... 27 ering a diverse range of mathemati- nually (the actual amount will be deter- cal themes. And a number of these mined each year by the Finance Com- Report - 39th IMO ........... 28 sessions were organized via the initia- mittee). As a general statement of in- tive of individual members. The CMS tent, the Task Force report supported News from Departments ...... 31 has been making efforts to increase the funding of "proposals which con- participation at meetings in precisely tribute to the broader good of the math- Calendar of events / Calendrier this fashion and it is gratifying to see ematical community as defined in the des ev´ enements´ ............. 33 this new format work so effectively as (continued on page 4) FEBRUARY/FEVRIER´ CMS NOTES EDITORIAL The CMS organized public lectures CMS NOTES by Professors F. W. Lawvere and H. NOTES DE LA SMC S. M. Coxeter during its meetings at Saint John and Kingston. Some univer- Les Notes de la SMC sont publiees´ sity departments arranged "Math in the par la Societ´ e´ mathematique´ du Mall" shows and "Math Trails" where Canada (SMC) huit fois l’an (fevrier,´ staff gave young students some hands- mars, avril, mai, septembre, octobre, on mathematics activities. These steps novembre et decembre).´ are commendable but we need more ac- tivities to help promote the appreciation ´ Redacteurs en chef of mathematics. Peter Fillmore; S. Swaminathan Please think about this matter and [email protected] send us your views and suggestions. Redacteur-g´ erant´ Graham P. Wright S. Swaminathan Richard Feynmann, considéré comme Redaction´ Richard Feynmann, who was rated the l’homme le plus intelligent de son Education´ : Edward Barbeau world’s smartest man of his time, hap- époque, se trouvait un jour aux côtés [email protected] pened to sit next to a Danish princess d’une princesse danoise lors d’un dîner. Reunions´ : Monique Bouchard on one occasion. She is said to have La princesse lui aurait dit qu’il était im- [email protected] remarked that they couldn’t discuss possible de discuter de son domaine, Recherche : Noriko Yui; his subject, Physics, because nobody la physique, car personne n’y connaît James D. Lewis knows anything about it. Feynmann rien. Feynmann lui répondit qu’au con- [email protected] replied that, on the contrary, that’s just traire, les gens discutent toujours de Assistante alar` edaction´ what everyone does discuss – things choses auxquelles ils ne connaissent they know nothing about, the weather, rien, comme la météo, les problèmes Caroline Baskerville social problems, psychology, interna- sociaux, la psychologie ou la finance Note aux auteurs : indiquer la section tional finance, etc. internationale. choisie pour votre article et le faire par- It is clear that if Mathematics were De toute évidence, si l’on rem- venir aux Notes de la SMC a` l’adresse substituted in the place of Physics in the plaçait "la physique" par "les mathé- postale ou de courriel ci-dessous : above remark Feynmann’s reply would matiques" dans la remarque ci-dessus, Societ´ e´ mathematique´ du Canada still hold. Indeed, Richard Feynmann, la réplique de Feynmann serait tout 577, rue King Edward Paul Dirac and many other Nobel laure- aussi vraie. Richard Feynmann, Paul C. P. 450, Succursale A ates were awarded their prizes for work Dirac et de nombreux autres lauréats Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5 which largely depended on their math- du prix Nobel ont été honorés pour des Tel´ ephone´ : (613) 562-5702 ematical skills. It is unfortunate that travaux largement tributaires de leurs Tel´ ecopieur´ : (613) 565-1539 physics seems to be more in the public connaissances mathématiques. Il est courriel : [email protected] eye than mathematics, and this is, per- dommage que la physique soit plus en Site Web : www.smc.math.ca haps, due to the fact that there is a Nobel vue que les mathématiques, mais c’est prize for physics and not one for math- peut-être parce qu’il existe un Nobel de Les Notes, les redacteurs´ et la SMC ne ematics. Mathematicians may regard physique, mais non un Nobel des math- peuvent etreˆ tenus responsables des opin- Fields medal as equivalent to the No- ématiques. Même si les mathémati- ions exprimees´ par les auteurs. Les bel prize but it is not so well known to ciens considèrent la médaille Fields fichiers d’option de sytle utilises´ pour la the public. This raises the question of comme l’équivalent d’un prix Nobel, production de ce volume sont une version increasing public awareness of mathe- cette distinction n’est pas très connue modifiee´ des fichiers conc¸us par Water- matics. In the wake of Andrew Wiles’ du public. D’où l’importance de sen- loo Maple Software, c 1994, 1995. solution of Fermat’s Last Conjecture, sibiliser davantage la population aux there has been some exposure of the mathématiques. Dans le sillage de la ISSN : 1193-9273 beauty of mathematics and importance solution d’Andrew Wiles à la dernière of its long standing unsolved problems. conjecture de Fermat, il a beaucoup c Societ´ e´ mathematique´ du Canada The momentum created by such efforts été question de la beauté des mathé- 1999 should not be allowed to wane. We matiques et de l’importance des prob- must keep it up. lèmes toujours non résolus. Tâchons 2 NOTES de la SMC FEBRUARY/FEVRIER´ de profiter encore longtemps des cir- ment universitaires ont tenu les activ- faire reconnaître encore davantage les constances favorables résultant de tels ités "Plein feux sur les mathématiques" mathématiques. efforts et continuons sur cette lancée. et "Sentiers mathématiques", où des Pensez-y et faites-nous part de vos À l’occasion de ses Réunions de professeurs organisent, à l’intention de opinions et de vos suggestions. Saint John et de Kingston, la SMC a or- jeunes élèves, des activités mathéma- ganisé des conférences publiques don- tiques pratiques. Il s’agit certes là nées par les professeurs F. W. Lawvere d’initiatives fort louables, mais nous et H. S. M. Coxeter. Certains départe- devons monter d’autres activités pour S. Swaminathan LETTER TO THE EDITORS The Editors of the Notes welcome letters in English or French reau administratif de la SMC ou à l’adresse suivante : notes- on any subject of mathematical interest but reserve the right [email protected]. to condense them. Those accepted for publication will ap- pear in the language of submission. Readers may reach us at ******* [email protected] or at the CMS Executive Office. In the Editorial of the CMS Notes Vol 30 no 6 there was a small inaccuracy. Ars Combinatoria is currently being edited Les rédacteurs des Notes acceptent les lettres en français ou from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Win- en anglais portant sur un sujet d’intérêt mathématique, mais nipeg (and not Manitoba). I am editing the journal and took ils se réservent le droit de les comprimer. Les lettres ac- over from William Kocay in May 1997. ceptées paraîtront dans la langue dans laquelle elles nous Ortrud Oellermann (University of Winnipeg) sont parvenues. Les lecteurs pourront nous joindre au bu- December 9, 1998 EDUCATION NOTES Ed Barbeau, University of Toronto These are lively times for mathemat- ter understanding of what might work cial examinations; structural changes ics education at every level.