372 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 873 



A NEW NATIONAL MATSEMATICAL 



SOCIETY 

 Each of the five leading mathematical coun- 

 tries of the world — Germany, France, Italy, 

 England and America — has a flourishing na- 

 tional mathematical society. In England and 

 in Italy these societies still bear local names, 

 while in America the name was changed from 

 ISTew York to American several years after the 

 organization of the society. 



Although the oldest of these societies, the 

 London Mathematical Society, was organized 

 a little less than half a century ago, they have 

 developed at a marvelous rate during the last 

 few decades and they play a prominent role 

 in the present mathematical activity. At 

 least two of them, the German and the Italian, 

 are rapidly assuming an international char- 

 acter. In fact, considerably more than a hun- 

 dred Americans are now members of the Ital- 

 ian society, while the German society has 

 about eighty such members. 



A Spanish Mathemati'^al Society was or- 

 ganized at the University of Madrid during 

 a session held on the fifth day of last April. 

 Whether this new national society will as- 

 sume a prominent place among those named 

 above, remains to be seen. It has comprehen- 

 sive plans with a view to uniting the Spanish 

 mathematicians, and its development will be 

 watched with unusual interest by Americans, 

 since the Spanish language is used so exten- 

 sively on our continent. 



During the month following its organiza- 

 tion the Spanish Mathematical Society began 

 the publication of a monthly periodical bear- 

 ing the name Revista de la Sociedad Mate- 

 mdtica Espanola. Judging from the title 

 page, it is to be very comprehensive, including 

 articles on analysis, geometry, mechanics, as- 

 tronomy, mathematical physics, geodesy, his- 

 tory, pedagogy, etc. The material appears 

 under seven sectional headings bearing the 

 following names: biography, doctrine, bib- 

 liography, news, vocabulary, intermedium, 

 problems. 



The society aims to publish translations of 

 important foreign publications and to furnish 

 these to its members at cost or even at a lower 



price. It ■ also undertakes to look up refer- 

 ences for its members and to furnish them 

 with translations of journal articles at cost. 

 The administrative office of the society is at 

 51 San Bernardo, Madrid, Spain, and the 

 comprehensive plans of organization include a 

 division of its members into nine different 

 classes. 



The first two numbers of the Revista have 

 appeared and are very creditable in view of 

 the general aims of the society. They con- 

 tain 40 and 36 pages, respectively. The 

 articles are brief and elementary, and com- 

 paratively few references are given. One 

 could scarcely expect much in the way of 

 profound scholarship in the early numbers of 

 such a journal, as its main function is to 

 awaken a mathematical interest and to reach 

 many whom it can lead to higher planes and 

 unite into a strong force. 



Not all scientific men realize the urgent de- 

 mands for wise labors in mathematical fields. 

 In a recent number of the Archiv der Mathe- 

 matik und Physih, volume 18, page 175, Pro- 

 fessor Study makes the following observations : 

 " As far as our geometrical production has any 

 claims on earnest appreciation it is prepon- 

 derantly careless work (Eaubban). The suc- 

 cess of Steiner and others with more or less 

 natural talents seems to have aided to create 

 a method, which is convenient, for both the 

 author and the reviewer, of arriving at a ver- 

 dict; according to this method only the main 

 facts are considered in geometry, while pre- 

 cision is not regarded as a main fact." Pro- 

 fessor Study goes on to point out that a great 

 part of advanced geometry is now in the state 

 of an undigested mass, and that it will re- 

 quire much additional work before all the 

 matter which appears in Bianchi's classic 

 " Lezioni di Geometria Differenziale " can be 

 presented in a satisfactory manner. 



While a considerable part of mathematics 

 demands a re-working from the standpoint of 

 precision, the numerous new fields that have 

 been opened call continually for workers who 

 are properly equipped. The increasing num- 

 ber of mathematical investigators calls for 

 increasing supervision and direction, and 



