Editorial

As this issue of the Bulletin went to press, I was very sorry to hear the sad news that John Earle died on 29 August 2016. John was Honorary Treasurer of the British Society for the History of Mathematics from 1996 to 2008. In that role he made an enormous contribution to the BSHM. He oversaw the Society's becoming a registered charity and a limited company, served as Company Secretary, and worked to modernise the Society's financial systems, enabling members to pay by direct debit. This was a huge amount of work on John's part, and it took the Society to a higher level as a learned society. John also led in the negotiations with Taylor & Francis which led to the Society's excellent but informal newsletter becoming, as the BSHM Bulletin, the established academic journal. As Treasurer he ensured that the Society was financially sound and built up the level of reserves necessary for it to achieve sustainably its charitable objectives.

It is no exaggeration to say that John's efforts have enabled the BSHM to serve the history of mathematics from a position of financial security and sound governance. The Society as it is today owes much to John's vision and hard work.

John had a particular interest in promoting the use of the history of mathematics in education and was one of the organisers of the influential series of BSHM HiMEd conferences which did so much to encourage mathematics teachers to use history in the classroom. John was also heavily involved in the joint meetings the BSHM held with the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics (CSHPM/SCHPM), which have been regularly on either side of the Atlantic since 1997. John played a major role in making these meetings so successful, and in establishing the strong relationship between the BSHM and the CSHPM which happily continues.

All these activities, and his demanding jobs as a teacher at the Maynard School in Exeter and subsequently at the Britannia Royal Naval College, left John limited time for his own research, but more recently he had been able to pursue his strong interest in the history of mathematics, working on Britain's relations with the Philippines and Southeast Asia in the long 19th century.

When I joined BSHM Council, John made me very welcome and could not have been more helpful and encouraging. He was well known and very popular with BSHM members over many years, and he will be very much missed on both sides of the Atlantic. But his work for the Society, its sound financial footing and its administrative systems, mean that his contribution to the study of the history of mathematics will be lasting and important.