• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2013

The outbreak of the First and the Second World Wars cast great shadow across the Europe including mathematical society. The IMU led by French mathematicians after the First World War ceased to exist because it was used politically. As Europe ran into the Second World War, all the international mathematical activities were ceased. Prominent mathematicians were put into camp by Nazi or moved to the United States of America. After the war, European mathematicians did not have capacity to represent the international mathematical society anymore. This led Stone and other American mathematicians to form the new IMU, which was independent of political ideology. This paper studies the birth process of the new IMU after the War and some major events that happened to ICM in 1950s.

• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.41-52
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• 2012

The Great War of 1914-1918 had dramatic consequences for all aspects of European society. Academia, and the field of mathematics, was no exception to the changes which occurred following the conflicts conclusion. After the First World War, which left Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bulgaria and Turkey defeated, the Treaty of Versailles imposed harsh revisions to the old order. Many new nations emerged and the map of Europe was redrawn. The victorious powers also created the International Research Council (IRC) in 1919, and the International Mathematical Union (IMU) was founded under the IRC' s umbrella in 1920. At that time Germany, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria were excluded from participation and the IMU maintained an open anti-German policy. However, as time passed this policy became more sharply criticized and in 1928 ICM, the nonparticipants were invited to join. Having declined, controversy persisted until in 1931 the IRC was replaced by the International Council of Scientific Unions, and the IMU disappeared for over two decades until it was reestablished in 1951. During the time of the first tenure of the IMU it is argued by many that politics entered into the world of international mathematical cooperation. In this paper we study the real effects the Great War had on the international mathematical community and its mathematicians.

• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.23-34
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• 2012

The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) will next be held in Seoul, Korea from August 13th to 21st 2014. The ICM, currently hosted by the International Mathematical Union, has a history spanning a period of one hundred years and is traditionally held every four years. Felix Klein has often been credited with formulating the concept of the ICM, however George Cantor not only initially propagated the idea of forming a mathematical society in Germany, but also proposed organizing an international mathematical union. This study has endeavored to investigate the early period of development of the ICM. Specifically, this paper has studied the development of early 20th century mathematics through changes in the formulaic language of the ICM, the number of participants, the number of presentations, the nationality of plenary speakers, and the changes in sessions.

• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.27-52
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• 2009

This article discusses the contributions of the leader Oswald Veblen, who was the president of AMS during 1923-1924. In 2006, Korea ranked 12th in SCIE publications in mathematics, more than doubling its publications in less than 10 years, a successful model for a country with relatively short history of modern mathematical research. Now there are 192 four-year universities in Korea. Some 42 of these universities have Ph.D. granting graduate programs in mathematics and/or mathematical education in Korea. Rapid growth is observed over a broad spectrum including a phenomenal performance surge in International Mathematical Olympiad. Western mathematics was first introduced in Korea in the 17th century, but real significant mathematical contributions by Korean mathematicians in modern mathematics were not much known yet to the world. Surprisingly there is no Korean mathematician who could be found in MaC Tutor History Birthplace Map. We are at the time, to have a clear vision and leadership for the 21st century. Even with the above achievement, Korean mathematical community has had obstacles in funding. Many people thinks that mathematical research can be done without funding rather unlike other science subjects, even though they agree fundamental mathematical research is very important. We found that the experience of early American mathematical community can help us to give a vision and role model for Korean mathematical community. When we read the AMS Notice article 'The Vision, Insight, and Influence of Oswald Veblen' by Steve Batterson, it answers many of our questions on the development of American mathematics in early 20th century. We would like to share the story and analyze its meaning for the development of Korean Mathematics of 21st century.