{ "type": "Article", "identifiers": [], "references": [ { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib1", "authors": [], "title": "\nProceedings of the International Mathematical Congresses between 1893 and 2022, the editor and publication details are available online on the IMU website at https://www.mathunion.org/icm/proceedings, accessed 14 November 2024\n" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib2", "authors": [], "title": "\nA. Conti, Il Congresso Internazionale\nMatematico di Bologna. Bollettino\ndi\nMat. XXIV,\n142–160 (1928)\n" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib3", "authors": [], "title": "\nG. P. Curbera, Mathematicians of\nthe world, unite! The International Congress of Mathematicians – A human endeavor. A. K. Peters, Wellesley, MA (2009) ", "url": "https://dx.doi.org/10.1201/b10584" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib4", "authors": [], "title": "\nG. W. Dunnington, Oslo under the Integral Sign. Natl. Math. Mag.\n11, 85–94 (1936) ", "url": "https://doi.org/10.2307/3028530" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib5", "authors": [], "title": "\nC. D. Hollings and R. Siegmund-Schultze,\nMeeting under the integral\nsign? Hist. Math. 44, American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI (2020)\n", "url": "https://dx.doi.org/10.1090/hmath/044" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib6", "authors": [], "title": "\nE. Kersten, International Congress of Mathematicians 1954.\nhttps://www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/escher-today/international-congress-mathematicians-1954/?lang=en (2017),\naccessed 11 March 2024\n", "url": "https://www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/escher-today/international-congress-mathematicians-1954/?lang=en" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib7", "authors": [], "title": "\nR. M. T. E. Oomes, J. J. T. M. Tersteeg and J. Top, The epitaph of Ludolph\nvan Ceulen. Nieuw Arch. Wiskd. (5) 1, 156–161 (2000)\n" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib8", "authors": [], "title": "\nL. S. Penrose and R. Penrose, Impossible objects: a special type of visual\nillusion. Br. J. Psychol. 49, 31–33 (1958) ", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1958.tb00634.x" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib9", "authors": [], "title": "\nB. Seeliger and B. R. Hodgson, A resource supporting the development of\nmathematics: The IMU/ICMI Archive. Eur. Math. Soc. Mag. 133, 61–64 (2024)\n", "url": "https://doi.org/10.4171/mag/204" } ], "title": "Untitled", "meta": {}, "content": [ { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx1", "depth": 1, "content": [ "Bologna 1928" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx1.p1", "content": [ "In\nJune 2023 I had the pleasure of visiting the IMU Archive and spending\ntime with the archivist, Birgit Seeliger, who guided me around. One of\nthe highlights of my visit was the arrival of a lapel pin made for the\n1928 Bologna International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). It had been\ndonated to the archive by Melanie Zwick who had found it amongst her\nlate grandmother’s possessions. Since Ms. Zwick had no idea how her\ngrandmother had acquired the pin and was not aware of any mathematicians\nin the family, she also provided a family tree in case anyone at the\nArchive could identify a mathematician in it. However, despite scouring\nthe\nBologna ICM Proceedings [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib1", "content": [ "1" ] }, "] and extensive\ngoogling,\nwe drew a blank. Perhaps the pin was a gift to her grandmother from\nsomeone outside the family or perhaps her grandmother had found it in a\nflea market!" ] }, { "type": "Figure", "id": "Sx1-fig1", "caption": [ { "type": "Paragraph", "content": [ "Pin from the 1928 Bologna ICM." ] } ], "licenses": [ { "type": "CreativeWork", "content": [ { "type": "Paragraph", "content": [ "Photo: Melanie Zwick / Source: IMU" ] } ] } ], "content": [ { "type": "ImageObject", "contentUrl": "medal1.jpg", "mediaType": "image/jpeg", "meta": { "inline": false } }, { "type": "ImageObject", "contentUrl": "medal2.jpg", "mediaType": "image/jpeg", "meta": { "inline": false } } ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx1.p2", "content": [ "The medal was designed by the Bolognese sculptor and\nmedallist Alfonso\nBorghesani (several of whose works are in university buildings in\nBologna). The obverse shows the seated figure of Libertas – the name is\ninscribed on her shield – with a lion at her feet, symbolising the city\nof Bologna (both Libertas and a lion feature on the city’s coat of\narms). To the left is a tower representing one of the city’s famous Two\nTowers. The reverse is inscribed:" ] }, { "type": "QuoteBlock", "content": [ { "type": "Paragraph", "content": [ "CONGRESSO\nINTERNAZIONALE\nDEI MATEMATICI\nBOLOGNA MCMXXVIII\nANNO VI" ] } ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx1.p4", "content": [ "The\n“ANNO VI” (which also appears in the\ncongress proceedings as\n“(VI)”), refers to\nyear 6 of the Era Fascista (not, as is sometimes\nassumed, to the number of the\ncongress). Originally 1100 medals were\ncast, but due to the increase in the number of participants during the\ncongress, a further 300 had to be ordered. This information is revealed\nin an article on the\ncongress in the ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Bollettino di Matematica" ] }, " in\nwhich an image of the pin is also reproduced [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib2", "content": [ "2" ] }, ", p. 158]. I am grateful to\nErika Luciano of the University of Turin for drawing this article to my\nattention." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx1.p5", "content": [ "Bologna was not the only ICM to hand out something for delegates to wear\non their lapels. Whether anything similar had been created for an ICM\nbefore Bologna is not known, but lapel badges certainly featured in the\nICM in Oslo in 1936. An attendee at the\ncongress, G. Waldo Dunnington,\nan American professor of German known for his writings on Gauss,\nreported that: “Delegates to the\ncongress wore a badge in the form of\nan integral sign, which entitled them to ride free on the street cars\nand busses [sic] in Oslo and vicinity” [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib4", "content": [ "4" ] }, "]. It seems that the\norganizers had chosen the integral sign as a logo for the\ncongress since\nit also appears on the title page of the\nproceedings [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib1", "content": [ "1" ] }, "]. No example of the Oslo badge has\nyet come to light, but it lives on in the title of the recent book on\nthe Oslo\ncongress by Christopher Hollings and Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze\nwho take their title from Dunnington’s article [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib5", "content": [ "5" ] }, "]." ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx2", "depth": 1, "content": [ "Amsterdam 1954" ] }, { "type": "Figure", "id": "Sx2-fig1", "caption": [ { "type": "Paragraph", "content": [ "Poster and pendant from the 1954 Amsterdam ICM." ] } ], "licenses": [ { "type": "CreativeWork", "content": [ { "type": "Paragraph", "content": [ "Source: IMU" ] } ] } ], "content": [ { "type": "ImageObject", "contentUrl": "Amsterdam1.jpg", "mediaType": "image/jpeg", "meta": { "inline": false } }, { "type": "ImageObject", "contentUrl": "Amsterdam2.jpg", "mediaType": "image/jpeg", "meta": { "inline": false } } ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p1", "content": [ "In November 2023, Birgit contacted me to let me know that the Archive\nhad recently received a gift of documents relating to the Amsterdam ICM\nof 1954. This was particularly welcome as the Archive has very little\nmemorabilia relating to this\ncongress." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p2", "content": [ "The donation came from the daughter of the mathematician R. M. Th. E. Oomes\n(1926–2010). Oomes is listed in the congress proceedings [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib1", "content": [ "1" ] }, "] as an" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p3", "content": [ "“assistant,” and he appears\nin the list of volunteers (which forms part of the donation), as one of\nthose coming from Leiden. He later became a mathematics teacher at a\nCatholic high school in Leiden (now Bonaventura College). Little else is\nknown about him apart from the fact that in the year 2000 his name\nappears as a co-author of an article about the tombstone of the\nGerman–Dutch mathematician Ludolph van Ceulen (1540–1610), who died in\nLeiden and who is famous for giving the constant ", { "type": "MathFragment", "mathLanguage": "mathml", "text": "π", "meta": { "altText": "\\pi" } }, " correct to 20\ndecimal places [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib7", "content": [ "7" ] }, "]." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p4", "content": [ "In common with many of my colleagues, the one thing I already knew about\nthe Amsterdam ICM was that an exhibition of the work of the graphic\nartist M. C. Escher had been put on specially for participants at the\ncongress, and that it was there that Sir Roger Penrose encountered\nEscher’s work for the first\ntime [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib6", "content": [ "6" ] }, ", ", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib8", "content": [ "8" ] }, "]. Consequently, on\nhearing the news about the donation of Amsterdam ICM documents, I hoped\nthat something about the Escher exhibition might be amongst them.\nAlthough there was nothing specific, the ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Congress Guide" ] }, ", a copy\nof which is part of the donation, contains the following\ndescription:\n" ] }, { "type": "QuoteBlock", "content": [ { "type": "Paragraph", "content": [ { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "\nDuring the week of the Congress an exposition of graphical work by M. C. Escher will be held in the Stedelijk Museum, 13, Paulus Potterstraat.\n\nIt is no wonder that especially mathematicians feel attracted by the work of Escher, which for a great deal is based on fascinating geometrical motives. Partially his work consists of symbolic-fantastic woodcuts in which the fundamental domains of regular plane-division are elaborated into artistic realizations.\n\nIn addition, there are representations of special motives which attack the Euclidean character of the space in a witty and machinating way.\n\nEscher is a pupil of S. Jessurun de Mesquita. In his work the\ninfluence of the mosaics of the Alhambra in Granada may be perceived.\n\nAny artminded mathematician will enjoy a visit to the exposition in the Stedelijk Museum, which moreover deserves interest by the presence of an exclusive collection of modern paintings (after 1850, e.g., van Gogh)." ] } ] } ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p6", "content": [ "The\nguide\nis full of information about other\nextracurricular\nactivities, including excursions to the Royal\nBlast Furnaces and Steelworks at Velsen,\nthe North Sea Locks at Ijmuiden, and trips to Delft and\nThe Hague. As well as several concerts,\namongst the more sedentary\nactivities on offer was the opportunity to watch “a simultaneous chess\ngame” featuring Dr. M. Euwe, a former world champion who was described\nas the “finest example of the combination of mathematician and\nchess player.” The\nguide\nalso contains a welcoming speech from\nthe (absent) Prince Bernhard, Prince Consort of the Netherlands, as well\nas an invitation to participants to purchase a tablecloth featuring\n“the Gaussian primes and woven after the indications of Prof. Balth.\nvan der Pol,” which apparently was still available for sale in 2009 [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib3", "content": [ "3" ] }, ", p. 137]. Perhaps not as many were sold as originally hoped!" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p7", "content": [ "On the scientific side, the donation includes Oomes’ annotated copy of\nthe ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Scientific Congress" ] }, ". This lists all the talks given at the\ncongress, beginning with John von Neumann on\n“Unsolved problems in\nmathematics” and closing with Andrei Kolmogorov on\n“General theories of\ndynamical systems and classical\nmechanics.” Oomes has crossed out\nseveral talks and inserted several new ones – presumably his own form of\nupdating. Others that are marked are probably those he wanted to attend\nhimself. Linked to his copy of the ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Scientific Congress" ] }, " is his\nannotated ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Symposia Programme" ] }, ". The three symposia – A. Stochastic\nProcesses (Hon. President R. M. Frechet), B. Algebraic Geometry\n(Hon. President F. Severi), C. Mathematical Interpretation of Formal Systems\n(Hon. President E. Borel) – were run independently\nof, but in\nconjunction with, the\ncongress, their lectures being published in the\ncongress proceedings apart from those of C., which appeared in\n", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics" ] }, " (1955)." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p8", "content": [ "Other items in the donation include several administrative documents\nconcerning the\nsecretariat, lists of participants, maps of the\ncongress\nvenue, a menu of the\ncongress banquet, and a catalogue from the local\nbooksellers and publishers, Zwets & Zeitlinger, listing about 1400\nmathematical books for sale. There are also two small terracotta\npendants, approximately 5 cm long, in the form of the logo of the\ncongress. Since these pendants have no chain or pin, it is not clear how\nthey were meant to be worn or displayed." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p9", "content": [ "One of the most interesting items in the donation is a photograph from\nthe front page of the ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant" ] }, " of 9 September\n1954. This shows Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in the garden of the\nSoestdijk Palace having what is described as a “cosy chit-chat” with\nMarshall Stone, Jan Schouten, Francesco Severi, Enrico Bompiani, and\nMary Cartwright. The involvement of the Queen (and her\nconsort) in the\ncongress was clearly a great publicity coup for the\ncongress organizers!\nThe photograph is reproduced in [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib3", "content": [ "3" ] }, ", p. 134], but without the names of\nthe mathematicians. Note that the\noriginal caption\n(translated above)\nlisted\nStone and Schouten\nin incorrect order." ] }, { "type": "Figure", "id": "Sx2-fig2", "caption": [ { "type": "Paragraph", "content": [ "“Yesterday afternoon at Soestdijk Palace, Queen Juliana met with\nrepresentatives of the mathematics congress, which is being held in\nAmsterdam. A cosy chit-chat in the garden: from left to right, Prof. J. A. Schouten,\nthe Queen, Prof. M. H. Stone, Prof. F. Severi, Prof. N. E. Bompiani;\nseen on the back is Miss Cartwright.”" ] } ], "licenses": [ { "type": "CreativeWork", "content": [ { "type": "Paragraph", "content": [ "Photo: Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant, of 9 September 1954 / Source: IMU" ] } ] } ], "content": [ { "type": "ImageObject", "contentUrl": "Amsterdam_chat.jpg", "mediaType": "image/jpeg", "meta": { "inline": false } } ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p10", "content": [ { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Acknowledgements. " ] }, "\nI am grateful to Jan van den Heuvel, my colleague at the London School\nof Economics, who provided me with information about Oomes and\ntranslated the caption to the photograph in\nthe ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant" ] }, "." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "authorinfo", "content": [ "\nJune Barrow-Green is curator of the IMU Archive. She is emerita\nprofessor of the history of mathematics at the Open University and\nvisiting professor of mathematics at the London School of Economics. She\nis also chair of the Executive Committee of the International Commission\non the History of Mathematics.\n", { "type": "Link", "target": "mailto:june.barrow-green@open.ac.uk", "content": [ "june.barrow-green@open.ac.uk" ] } ] } ] }