This issue of the BSHM Bulletin marks the beginning of a new and exciting development for the BSHM. In the Spring of 2005 we were approached by the long established journal publishers, Taylor and Francis, who had noticed the existence of the Bulletin and felt it was a publication with which they would like to be associated. After several months of detailed and productive discussions the BSHM signed a contract with Taylor and Francis at the end of December 2005, under which T&F will henceforward take over production, distribution, and promotion of the Bulletin. The first change you will observe is the new size and style of binding, which bring the Bulletin into line with other T&F journals, and will, we hope, make it easier and more pleasing to read and handle.
In other ways, though, the Bulletin will remain the same as before. The BSHM retains full ownership, together with complete control of content and editorial policy. We will continue to publish feature articles, reports of BSHM meetings and other events and meetings, research news, book reviews, lists of recent books and articles, and other items of interest to members. In particular we will continue to foster the trend, firmly established over the last few issues of the Bulletin, of publishing articles on local mathematical history, or that reflect members’ personal research and interests. The Bulletin has always relied on the support and goodwill of the membership: over the last fifteen years more than 150 different authors have written for the Newsletter or Bulletin, and we have every intention of continuing to encourage this wide range of authors and articles.
The arrangement with Taylor and Francis will harness the resources and expertise of a major publishing house to assist the BSHM's objectives of promoting the History of Mathematics to the largest possible audience, and should lead to the Bulletin becoming more easily available to a greater range of readers in academic institutions of all kinds. This new step is significant not just for the Bulletin but for the Society as a whole, marking a further stage in the development of the BSHM from an informal voluntary society, through charitable company, to producer of a recognized publication which we hope will eventually be found in libraries and institutions across the world.
Meanwhile, this first issue in the new series focuses on the theme of mathematical textbooks, explored so successfully at the weekend conference run jointly by the BSHM and Oxford University Department of Continuing Education, at Rewley House, Oxford, in September 2005. The first four articles in this issue are talks given at that conference by June Barrow-Green, John Denniss, and Alexander Marr, followed by an article by Rod Gow on some of the correspondence of textbook publisher John Nourse. Subsequent issues in 2006 will take up themes from HIMED in April, and from the meeting on Victorian mathematics in June, and further suggestions for themes or articles are always welcome. This is your publication; I hope you will continue to contribute to it, read it, and enjoy it!
Jackie Stedall