Investigating 19th-Century Mathematical Journals : Importance and Use of Other Periodicals in Nouvelles Annales de Mathématiques from1842 to 1870

Abstract

9 pages ; International audience ; One way to investigate 19th-century mathematical journals is to see their importance and their use in other reviews. The purpose of my talk is to deal with this subject from an example, Nouvelles annales de mathématiques, a French journal created by Orly Terquem in 1842 whose announced purpose was to prepare young men for the entrance examination of Ecole Polytechnique. My study will cover the years 1842 to 1870, trying to answer the following questions: How many journals are there? Which journals are mentioned? On which occasions and themes? For what scientific, educational or political aims are they employed? Is there an evolution due to different editors, public expectation and political events? In discussing those points I will focus my analysis, first, on a quantitative and qualitative study to measure the importance of the other periodicals on different subjects and at various times, and second, on a reflection upon the use of these journals in order to serve the editors' goals.