It's an honour to follow in the footsteps of Jackie Stedall and Tony Mann as editor of the Bulletin. The time when it was the Newsletter, under the editorship of John Fauvel, Ron Gowing and, briefly, June Barrow-Green, is before my own turn to matters historical, but I was long ago given a complete set of back issues and I've read with awe John's occasionally blistering editorials (I can't promise anything comparable, I'm afraid). I'm particularly aware of Jackie's contribution to making the Bulletin what it is today, having been her research student at the time when she shepherded it through the transition to publication by Taylor and Francis. And I owe Tony a big debt of gratitude for his smooth handling of the hand-over period that culminates with this first issue under my editorship. I'll do all I can to uphold the standards my predecessors have set. My thanks are due to the editorial and production staff at Taylor and Francis, including Thomas Murden, Vikki Davies and her successor Catherine Smith, who have all been admirably helpful and patient with my multitude of queries and concerns while I learn the ropes.
This issue has—not intentionally—something of a nineteenth-century focus, with articles on William Rowan Hamilton and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) as well as A E L Davis's note on women's university mathematical education from 1878 to 1940, while Alexander Karp's piece on Mark Vygodsky brings us into the Soviet period. The books reviewed range much more widely, from Euler through the Scottish Enlightenment to the twentieth century, and Katie McCallum brings us right up the present with a look at the new mathematical gallery at the Science Museum, which many readers will have seen. I'm grateful to Isobel Falconer, who has taken over from me as reviews editor, for keeping the reviews flowing.
Finally, BSHM meetings reported in this issue range from early modern mathematical practice to Lewis Carroll and a special event on mathematical logic. My thanks go to Jane Wess for co-ordinating the production of recent meeting reports, as well as to Sue and Leo for their longer discursive piece on history in maths education which appears in this issue.