146 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1415 



SUBSIDY FUNDS FOR MATHE- 

 MATICAL PROJECTS! 



Heretopoee little attention has been given 

 to the question of subsidy funds for mathe- 

 matical pz'ojects, quite unlike the ease with 

 some of the more spectacular sciences. The 

 presumption is prevalent among non-mathe- 

 maticians that mathematics is an organized 

 and crystallized body of necessary conclusions 

 drawn some decades or centuries ago from 

 certain intuitional concepts of number and 

 form, and that no special provision for equip- 

 ment or funds is necessary for carrjang on 

 mathematical work. 



On the contrary, it is the purpose of this 

 paper to show that mathematics, as a live and 

 active subject, is in need of funds for its pro- 

 mulgation as much as any other science. For 

 example, the following needs may be men- 

 tioned : 



(1) A revolving book fund for the publica- 

 tion of mathematical treatises. It has not been 

 possible, on account of economic conditions, 

 for an author to secure the publication of a 

 mathematical treatise by one of the commercial 

 publishing houses for several years past and, 

 apparently, will not be possible for some time 

 to come. It is well known that such treatises 

 of worthy character are awaiting publication, 

 but that not even second or subsequent vol- 

 umes will be accepted by publishing houses 

 which have already printed the preceding vol- 

 umes. The only remedy for this most unfor- 

 tunate situation is a subsidy fund which may 

 be drawn upon to guarantee the cost of pub- 

 lication, such guaranty to be returned, in 

 whole or in part, to the fund whenever the 

 sales may so warrant. A lump sum of $25,000 

 could be wisely used at once for this purpose 

 and should be handled through the American 

 Mathematical Society. 



(2) A mathematical dictionary in English. 

 There is no mathematical dictionary in any 

 language that is even approximately up to 

 date. Students and workers of all kinds in 



1 A paper presented to the joint meeting of 

 the American Mathematical Society and the 

 Mathematical Association of America at Toronto, 

 Ontario, December 29, 1921. 



mathematics, and in fields in any way related to 

 mathematics, should have the benefit of the 

 best dictionary in the English language that 

 can be made. The Mathematical Association 

 of America has already considered this matter 

 in great detail, even to the careful estimating 

 of the scope and size of such a publication 

 and of the cost of its preparation. A lump 

 sum of $100,000, or of $20,000 per year for 

 five years, will be needed for the preparation 

 of the manuscript. Such a work would be 

 monumental in character and would insure 

 great honor to any donor. 



(3) Publication of a historical journal in 

 English. As is well known, the only mathe- 

 matical journal in the historical field, the 

 Bibliotheca Mathematica, has been entirely 

 suspended on account of economic conditions. 

 Its venerable editor, Mr. G. Enestrom, has 

 appealed to friends in this country to assist in 

 continuing this journal as an American pub- 

 lication. The American Mathematical Monthly 

 has recently made a serious effort to secure 

 funds for combining the Bibliotheca with the 

 Monthly, but so far without success. A fund 

 of $2,000 per year, or an endowment of 

 $40,000 would be needed in order to appro- 

 priately perpetuate the long and honorable 

 record of this journal, and to do this would not 

 only render assistance in a most worthy cause, 

 but would bring honor to America and to any 

 donor who should make it possible. 



(4) Enlargement of our mathematical re- 

 search journals. It is a distressing fact that 

 all of our mathematical research journals are 

 in crying need of more space for the publica- 

 tion of scores of articles already accepted. The 

 American Journal of Mathematics, the Annals 

 of Mathematics, and the Transactions of the 

 American Mathematical Society should all be 

 brought up to at least five hundred pages per 

 volume and the latter could well be extended to 

 six hundred pages. But this could not be done 

 at present, and probably not for a long time to 

 come, without a subsidy fund of at least $2,500 

 a year or an endowment of $50,000. In addi- 

 tion to this space, the Transactions would need 

 a whole extra volume, at a cost of about $4,000, 

 in order to catch up with available worthy 

 contributions. 



