1899 – 1999

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF «L’ENSEIGNEMENT MATHÉMATIQUE»

 

Our journal celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 1999.

The first prefaces, as well as the subtitle "Revue Internationale", show that its founders, Henri FEHR (from Geneva) and Charles-Ange LAISANT (from Paris), were keen to associate the world of teaching with the "great movement of scientific solidarity" that was taking place at the end of the 19th century.

One of the very original features of the early days was a series of articles on the teaching of mathematics in different countries. The journal's international ambitions were confirmed by the publication of articles and columns on Esperanto. There were also articles on the social role of science and a major investigation into the working methods of mathematicians. In the style typical of the period, the founders declared (in the 1904 address to readers) that they had built "an instrument of universal scientific progress and of confraternal solidarity" and added just as modestly:

In the five years that have elapsed since this Journal was founded, we are aware that it has been useful.

Of course, Fehr did not know at the time that he himself would run the journal for fifty-five years, with various co-directors. The second series was inaugurated in 1955 by Jovan Karamata, thanks to a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation and with the support, for many years, of the Department of Public Education of the Canton of Geneva.

The journal continues to appear regularly. It offers articles in a variety of fields, and preference is given to articles of which at least part is accessible to a wide audience of mathematicians.

This was specified by the directors in 1904:

The word 'Teaching' has for us the broadest meaning. It means teaching students, as well as teaching teachers - and, moreover, one hardly goes without the other and still relevant today.

Finally, we have revived the tradition of monographs by publishing:

T.Y. LAM, Modules with Isomorphic Multiples and Rings with Isomorphic Matrix Rings.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our printer, Kundig, for the excellence of their work and their understanding of our objectives. Our partnership dates back to 1903: a fine example of loyalty.

Our special thanks go to Mr Jacques Waldburger, who has been compiling our texts for over thirty years, and who has made the transition from traditional techniques to TeX typesetting with ease.

 

The Editors

See also the text by Georges de Rham

On Henri Fehr, see also the Henri Fehr collection at the Bibliothèque de Genève

 

 

 

couver page of volume 4, 1902