On 4 October 2017 the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will release a new polymer £10 note into circulation, featuring a portrait of Scottish mathematician and astronomer Mary Somerville, and a quote form her publication On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences. 

An article about Somerville was published in the LMS Newsletter in January 2017.

The number of A-level Mathematics entries across the UK is up 3.3% on last year, with 95,244 students sitting the exam.

Figures released today by the Joint Council for Qualifications also show that

The founder of the Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) Landon T. Clay passed away on July 29. Clay was a generous benefactor to mathematics and founded CMI in 1998 with his wife, Lavinia D. Clay The primary objective of CMI is to ‘encourage the increase and dissemination of mathematical knowledge’.

Clay was not himself a mathematician, having graduated from Harvard with a degree in English. His career as a successful businessman and in finance and science-based venture capital funding allowed him to devote his time and energy to philanthropic causes

The London Mathematical Society welcomes the report, published today, of Professor Sir Adrian Smith’s review of post-16 mathematics.  As part of the mathematics community, we welcome its recognition of the importance of mathematics, and its analysis of the need to improve take-up and achievement in 16-18 mathematics.  The report makes significant recommendations for strengthening the provision of a variety of post-16 mathematics pathways, so that within a decade all 16-18 students should have access to appropriately rewarding and challenging routes of study.

We are delighted to announce that the Councils of the IMA and LMS have awarded the 2017 David Crighton Medal to Professor I. David Abrahams, for his outstanding service to both mathematics and the mathematical community.

David developed the technically demanding Wiener-Hopf techniques for applications in real problems, and created a vibrant group working on waves in Manchester. He has received the Royal Society’s Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship and its Wolfson Research Merit Award.

It is with great sadness that the London Mathematical Society (LMS) has learned of the death of Fields Medal winner Maryam Mirzakhani at the age of 40. In 2014 Mirzakhani became the first woman to receive a Fields Medal in its nearly 80-year history. She received the award for her ‘outstanding contributions to the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces’. In essence, for her contributions to the fields of topology, geometry, and dynamical systems.

The slates for the 2017 LMS elections to Council and Nominating Commitee, as selected by Nominating Committee, are now available.

As in previous years, members are invited to make direct nominations for both Council and Nominating Committee.

The ballot will open in autumn 2017 and the results will be announced at the LMS Annual General Meeting in November.

See full details here.

The winners of the 2017 LMS Prizes were announced at the Society meeting in London on Friday 30th June 2017. The Society extends its congratulations to these winners.

PROFESSOR ALEX WILKIE FRS, of the UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, is awarded the PÓLYA PRIZE for his profound contributions to model theory and to its connections with real analytic geometry.