The BSHM has four prize competitions.
The Neumann prize was established in honour of Peter Neumann, a longstanding supporter of and contributor to the BSHM. The prize of £1000 is awarded every two years; it will next be awarded in 2021.
The prize is awarded for a book in English (including books in translation) dealing with the history of mathematics and aimed at a broad audience. There is no further restriction on subject matter, nor on the nationality of the author or the country of publication.
The Taylor and Francis Early Career Research Prize, of £1000, is awarded for an essay of up to 8000 words on any aspect of the history of mathematics. The winning essay will be considered for publication in the Society’s journal, The British Journal for the History of Mathematics. The winner will be appointed social media coordinator for the Society for two years; be given access to the Society’s Twitter and Facebook accounts; and be invited to blog on the history of mathematics.
In the context of the prize an early career researcher is defined to be either (a) a current doctoral student or (b) a person within five years of having graduated with a doctorate. Articles published by early career researchers in the Society’s journal will automatically be considered for the award. Submissions can also be made via the Society website. Essays which have already been published, or have been submitted for publication, in other journals may not be entered for the prize.
The BSHM Undergraduate Essay Prize is awarded annually for an essay by an undergraduate student on any topic in the history of mathematics. The winner receives £100, free BSHM membership for three years, and is invited to give a talk at the BSHM Research in Progress meeting.
The essay may be on any topic within the history of mathematics and should be no more than 2500 words (excluding references). The competition is open to any person who is enrolled as an undergraduate in a UK or Irish university.
The Schools Plus Competition, run annually in conjunction with Plus, is open to all young people aged 11 to 15 and 16 to 19 who are in secondary education. Each year a call for entries is published on the BSHM website announcing a theme; entries in the past have included articles, short videos and multi-media projects. A number of monetary prizes are awarded, depending upon the number and quality of entries.
Neumann Prize
The winner of the Neumann Prize 2019 is
Martin Beech, Going Underground: The Science and History of Falling Through the Earth, World Scientific, 2019
This extraordinarily wide-ranging book takes us on an exciting underground journey through the centre of our earth, looking at historical attempts by humans to understand how the inside of our planet looks and functions. Some of the stories are well known, but many are far less familiar, surfaced by Beech’s digging through historical sources – but they are all intriguing. Scientific theories and ideas are presented and dissected in a very accessible and enjoyable manner, and mathematics is introduced gradually. The power of thought experiments is particularly evident from their lucid descriptions in this book.
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.