MATHEMATICS 167 



brilliant predecessor in the chair of mechanics, 

 PAINLEVE, has been for a time occupied with governmental 

 work, as Minister of Education. 



The courses of BOUSSINESQ and KOENIGS in mathe- 

 matical physics should also be mentioned, though they 

 lie partly without the field we are considering. 



In addition to the lecture courses mentioned above, 

 conferences were held at the Sorbonne and the ficole 

 Normale in 1915-16 by LEBESGUE, whose new theory 

 of integration is already classical; VESSIOT, perhaps best 

 known for his work in extending the Galois theory to 

 linear differential equations; CARTAN, whose name is 

 familiar to students of group theory; and MONTEL, who 

 has made brilliant contributions to the theory of func- 

 tions. 



If we have deferred mention of HADAMARD, it is not 

 because he can be assigned any other than a foremost 

 position among French mathematicians, but on account 

 of the fact that his work in not at the Sorbonne, but 

 at the College de France and the ficole Polytechnique. 

 At the latter institution his classes are not open to the 

 public; but at the former, where he holds the chair 

 of Analytic and Celestial Mechanics, all hearers are 

 welcome. His courses are by no means confined to the 

 subjects indicated; in the year 1915-16 he lectured on 

 the analytk theory of prime numbers, to which he made 

 contributions of such fundamental importance in his 

 earlier work. Like Poincare, his genius has covered 

 almost the whole field of mathematics, and he has espe- 

 cially enriched analysis and applied mathematics by his 

 researches. 



At the College de France one may also hear the lec- 

 tures of HUMBERT, perhaps best known by his "Cours 

 d'analyse." His work is mainly in algebra and analysis. 

 The courses in mathematical physics given here by 



