The Cambridge Mathematical Journal and its descendants: the linchpin of a research community in the early and mid-Victorian age (Q1765386): Difference between revisions

The \textit{Cambridge Mathematical Journal} (\textit{CMJ}) was founded in 1837 by two Scotsmen, Duncan Gregory and Archibald Smith, soon after they had completed their Cambridge University mathematical tripos examinations. The journal was a new venture in British mathematical publishing, as it aimed to publish high-level original work and also to acquaint its readers with current progress in mathematical research throughout Europe. The early contributions to the \textit{CMJ} were of mixed quality and scarcely compared favourably with those of their continental counterparts such as \textit{Crelle's Journal} and \textit{Liouville's Journal}, founded in 1826 and 1836, respectively, but soon mathematicians of the calibre of Boole, Cayley, Stokes and Sylvester were publishing important work in the \textit{CMJ}. In 1845, the \textit{CMJ} was re-established as the \textit{Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal}, itself succeeded by the \textit{Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics} in 1855. Using extensive archive and published sources, the author gives a detailed picture of the activities of the \textit{CMJ} editors and their principal contributors, and he provides an assessment of the journal's role in helping to establish a research-publishing tradition in mid 19-th century British mathematics.