Calcutta Mathematical Society - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Calcutta Mathematical Society (CalMathSoc) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

research and education in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The Society has its head office

Head Office

Head Office is a 1985 American comedy film, produced by HBO Pictures in association with Silver Screen Partners. It stars Judge Reinhold, Eddie Albert, Lori-Nan Engler, Jane Seymour, Richard Masur, Michael O'Donoghue, Ron Frazier, Merritt Butrick and was directed and written by Ken...

located at Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, India.

History

Calcutta Mathematical Society was established on 6 September 1908 under the stewardship of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, the then Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University. He was the founder president of the Society, and was assisted by Sir Gurudas Banerjee, Prof. C.E. Cullis and Prof. Gauri Sankar Dey as Vice Presidents and Prof. Phanindra Lal Ganguly as the Founder Secretary of the organization. It is said that the founders were inspired by the structure and operations of the London Mathematical Society while forming this organization.

Over more than the last 100 years, the Society has fostered teaching and research of theoretical and applied mathematical sciences through several pedagogic and technical activities. It is honored to be associated with legends like Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

, S. Chandrasekhar, Abdus Salam

Abdus Salam

Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk (Urdu: محمد عبد السلام, pronounced , (January 29, 1926– November 21, 1996) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the electroweak unification of the...

and many more eminent scientists and researchers across the globe.

Activities

The main academic activities of the Society can broadly be classified under the following three heads - Memorial

Memorial

A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....

Lectures, Special Lectures and Regular Seminar

Seminar

Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...

s and Symposium

Symposium

In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...

s. The Memorial Lectures are organized by the Society every year in honor of great academicians who were once associates and patrons of the organization. The Special Lectures are given on request by eminent researchers and scientists who visit Kolkata from time to time. The Seminars and Symposiums are generally held on an annual basis, focusing on the Pedagogic

Pedagogy

Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....

and Technical

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

topics as well as topics of popular interest.

Publications

In terms of publishing substantial academic work, Calcutta Mathematical Society is the 1st Mathematical Society in India and Asia, and is the 13th in the whole world. The main publication of the Society is the Bulletin of Calcutta Mathematical Society, which commenced its journey back in 1909 and has been of great repute in the global scenario of mathematics for more than 100 years. The major publications of the Society are its four journals

Academic journal

An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...

and bulletins as follows.

Apart from these, the Society has published in form of book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

s and monograph

Monograph

A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...

s, the work of great scientists and mathematicians who have come in close contact with the organization over the course of its journey. The library of the Society currently houses around 20,000 publications by the Society, and is growing on a continuous basis.

Structure

The main governing body of the Society is its Council

Committee

A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...

, which is composed of the President

President

A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

, Vice-Presidents, Secretary

Secretary

A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...

, Treasurer

Treasurer

A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...

, Editorial Secretary and Assistant Secretary (if required). These posts are nominated and elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting

Annual general meeting

An annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...

.

The membership of the Society is categorized bases on the involvement of the members. The Honorary Members are nominated from the pool of current researchers and scientists in the field of mathematical sciences. The Life Members and Ordinary Members of the Society are elected by the standing members at the General Meetings. The Society has a reciprocity relationship with American Mathematical Society

American Mathematical Society

The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...

and Cambridge Philosophical Society

Cambridge Philosophical Society

The Cambridge Philosophical Society is a scientific society at University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1819. The name derives from the medieval use of the word philosophy to denote any research undertaken outside the fields of theology and medicine...

, whereby a member of one of the societies can become a member of the other by paying just half the subscription.

The General Meeting of the Society is held approximately every month and the main agenda revolves around nominating and electing new members, and reading and judgment of papers to be published in the next edition of the Bulletin. After the members review and suggest changes and points of improvements for the papers, they are finalized and are dispatched to be published.

Association

The Calcutta Mathematical Society is associated with a number of renowned institutions and societies across the world. It has a relation of collaboration and co-sponsorship with the Indian National Science Academy

Indian National Science Academy

The Indian National Science Academy , New Delhi is the apex body of Indian scientists representing all branches of science & technology.-History:...

, American Mathematical Society, Canadian Mathematical Society

Canadian Mathematical Society

The Canadian Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and education in Canada.It was originally conceived in June 1945 as the Canadian Mathematical Congress...

and the Australian Mathematical Society

Australian Mathematical Society

The Australian Mathematical Society was founded in 1956 and is the national society of the mathematics profession in Australia. One of the Society's listed purposes is to promote the cause of mathematics in the community by representing the interests of the profession to government. The Society...

. It also has a reciprocity relationship with American Mathematical Society and Cambridge Philosophical Society, via which a member of any one of these societies can be a member of the other at the payment of half subscription.

External links