It is a great honour to succeed Benjamin Wardhaugh as editor of the British Journal for the History of Mathematics. Benjamin was the first editor of the Journal but he followed a series of ‘giants’ in the British Society for the History of Mathematics. In February 1986, during Ivor Grattan-Guinness’ Presidency, Ron Gowing initiated a Society Newsletter, which ‘will circulate on occasion … with items of interest to members. They [were] invited to lend success to this venture by sending to Dr Gowing items that appear[ed] to be relevant’; a template was provided for such submissions which upheld scholarly standards by requiring not only the item but also a reference or source. The twin features of serving the interests of Society members and recording their activities, and of upholding scholarly standards, have been central ever since.
The Newsletter developed under Ron Gowing, Robin Wilson, John Fauvel, and June Barrow-Green, first into the Bulletin under Jackie Stedall and then Tony Mann, and then to the Journal under Benjamin. The early Newsletters reveal also other continuities in the Society, some of them concerns that we may think of as recent. Newsletter 28, Spring 1995, is notable for being John Fauvel’s first as editor but containing his outgoing Presidential Address. It reveals that 50 years ago, in 1973 the President, Gerald Whitrow, was considering issues of imperialism and Indian mathematics in his Address ‘Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765-1832) and Hindu mathematics’. John took ‘equal opportunities’ for the theme of his own address, weighing up the historiographic tensions inherent in ‘the impact of feminism, anti-racism and other socio-political movements on historical scholarship’, but also the tensions of social inclusivity and scholarly standards brought by ‘technological developments which are ensuring that more people have opportunities to travel, to communicate electronically, and indeed to study and research history of mathematics’. A ‘Computer Section’ to ‘share knowledge, experiences and awareness of technological developments which help in the practice of research and in the promulgation of the history of mathematics’ had started the previous year and the Newsletter had grown from 3 to 73 pages and was becoming
so full that there are suggestions from some quarters we need a rather shorter–and more regular– document to keep you posted on forthcoming meetings and other events, leaving the Newsletter to concentrate on the more bulletin or journal-like aspects of the role into which it has developed.
The Newsletter evolved as John suggested. Simon Gardiner (now BSHM Treasurer) took over editorship of a News Sheet that appeared more frequently and was hence a better medium for debate and information updates; this has become the eNews ably edited by Dorothy Leddy. Under Jackie Stedall’s guidance, Newsletter 50 became Bulletin 1. In 12 years as Editor, Jackie did an enormous amount to drive up the quality of feature articles, a move continued by Tony Mann and then by Benjamin Wardhaugh, until the Bulletin was truly worthy of the title of Journal that Benjamin proposed and then implemented. Benjamin has truly established the Journal as an internationally recognized and high-quality publication that yet succeeds in filling a much-needed niche between journals aimed at professional historians of mathematics and the interests of BSHM members, many of whom have a keen interest and outstanding knowledge of the history of mathematics but would not describe themselves as professionals.
I am enormously grateful to all my predecessors, and most particularly to Benjamin for everything he has done to develop the Journal over the past five years, and for the patience and organization that he has put into ensuring a smooth handover of the editorship. I hope there are no glitches, but if there are, they are entirely my responsibility. One of Benjamin’s invaluable contributions has been to develop a wide-ranging Editorial Board, whom I thank for their warm welcome; I take this role on in the knowledge that I can turn to them for advice. I would also like to thank the production team at Taylor and Francis for their help and rapid response to all my questions about how the editorial systems work, especially Lisanne Ophoff, Justin Robinson, Katie Shanahan, and Rema Devi. Finally, I would like to thank BSHM members and Journal contributors. As Jackie Steddall wrote in 2004 (Bulletin 1), ‘Ultimately, however, the success of any publication such as this depends on members being willing to write for it or to suggest others who might’. Her confidence in members and contributors has been amply justified; with your help I aim to keep the quality and interest-level of the Journal high, serving your needs.