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Among the three aims of the Rio de Janeiro declaration, if considering the great challenges for the 21st century proceed with more specific approach of IMU, no doubt the realization of the two other aims has to be as broad and open as possible. So, UNESCO's sponsorship is specially significant.
ICHM
The International Commission on History of
Mathematics, believing
that it would be appropriate, in the year 2000, to
assess the significance and fate of Hilbert's famous
lecture of 1900 on seminal, as-of-then unsolved problems
in mathematics (just at the Turn of
the Century Committee will project its own vision to
devise a new set
of seminal problems for the 21st century), is
organizing an historical Symposium for the Zürich
Congress in 1994. This will be devoted to a
rigourous examination of the history of congresses
from Zürich to Zürich,
including the Paris Congress in 1900.
Sevilla 1996 global communication
Projects are developing to make Sevilla a
test-bench, at a small scale, for the world meeting
ICME-9. Among them, an agreement in principle is
acquired on the use of the new Spanish satellite
Hispasat launched in September 1992 which covers in
particular Spain, Portugal and America (USA, Mexico,
Central and South America).
CDE
The activity of the CDE which tries to promote the
place and the role of mathematics
in collaboration with developing countries, is fully in
keeping with the second aim of the declaration of Rio de
Janeiro.
More precisely, with the support of ICSU, UNESCO,
IMU and some scientific societies, the CDE grants travel
fellowships in research advanced centers and partially
subsidizes congresses according to scientific level on a
somewhat reciprocal commitment. Future activity of CDE
will certainly find some profit in the dynamic WMY 2000
is going to create.
CDE-UNESCO dissemination centres
One of CDE projects, the programm of dissemination
of mathematical information and documentation in
developing countries elaborated with UNESCO in December
1990, is of particular importance. This programm
consists in setting up three libraries-documentation
centres in Asia, Latin America, Africa, in institutions
where fairly well developed libraries already exist as
well as a group of active mathematicians. The programm
intends to provide additional inputs for completing the
collections of core mathematical books and important
mathematical journals, as well as reprints. Moreover, the
new imputs should facilitate the acquisition of essential
electronic data bases and communication systems. The
centres shall provide their services to mathematicians
in the region to facilitate access to both latest and
classical mathematical literature.
ICHM
One of the best ways to establish a "systematic
presence" of mathematics in the "Information Age" is
through the history of mathematics, which can effectively
demonstrate the significance of mathematics in
cross-cultural ways in the widest possible variety of
different contexts.
Local meetings, international symposia, special
exhibitions and long-range publications can all help to create a
higher public awareness of mathematics and the crucial role they have
played in world history.
Two efforts in which the ICHM is already engaged
have a direct relation to the aims of WMY 2000. One is
the maintenance of an archive of slides and photographs
of mathematics; one goal of the Commission in light of
WMY 2000 might be publication of a catalogue of all known
portraits or photographs and where they may be found.
The second project is the production of a
"Historiography of the history of Mathematics" to which
more than forty historians from all over the world are
collaborating to describe the history of history of
mathematics from the first historical writings about
mathematics by the ancient Greeks and Chinese, to the
present. Publication of this work in anticipation of WMY
2000 would be a realistic goal of the Commission, and
one that would be very much in keeping with aims 2 and 3
as stated in the Rio Declaration.
(J.Dauben, ICHM Chairman)