La France mathématique : la Société mathématique de France (1872-1914) / Hélène Gispert ; suivi de cinq études de R. Bkouche, C. Gilain, C. Houzel, J.-P. Kahane et M. Zerner

This extremely informative book consists of two parts. The first part, written by H. Gispert describes the development of the French mathematical society between 1870 and 1914 which was officially created in 1872. The analysis deals with the creation of this society, the mathematical production of its members, the institutional revolutions about the 1880s, the evolution of mathematical production between 1880 and 1900, the following new generation of mathematicians (Borel, Baire, Lebesgue), the foreign members of the society and its sisters. Last not least the reader finds statistical tables concerning members, mathematical production etc. The second part comprehends five additional articles. R. Bkouche deals with the reform of geometrical instruction which took place between 1902 and 1905, C. Gilain with the qualitative (geometrical) theory of Poincaré of ordinary differential equations created in 1881, C. Houzel with the origins of algebraic geometry that is with Picard's papers on surfaces (1884-1905), J.-P. Kahane with the mathematical publications of French mathematicians of the period 1880-1910, M. Zerner with Joseph Bertrand's rule between 1874 and 1900. The appendix publishes the reports of 107 theses (1874-1900) and contains a description of the collection of the bibliographical data. (Zentralblatt)