The World Mathematical Year 2000
In the "Declaration of Rio de Janeiro on Mathematics" of May 6, 1992, IMU
has declared the year 2000 to be World Mathematical Year, WMY 2000. The
Declaration of Rio de Janeiro sets three goals:
- the determination of great mathematical challenges of the 21st century,
- the promulgation of mathematics, both pure and applied, as one of the
main keys for development, and
- the recognition of the systematic presence of mathematics in the
information society (the image of mathematics).
The impetus for establishing
the first of these three goals occurred when the IMU General Assembly in
Kobe, Japan (August 1990) adopted the following resolution proposed by the
United States delegation:
Whereas the IMU wishes to mark the turn of the century in a manner
appropriate to the standard set by David Hilbert in 1900, the General
Assembly directs the Executive Committee to set up a committee to report to
the adhering bodies by September 1991 [on] how to accomplish [this so] that
in 1994 the Assembly can discuss it and decide how to proceed.
A server for the World Mathematical Year 2000 has been established in
Paris. This server reports about the progress in organizing the World
Mathematical Year 2000. Moreover, it offers all newsletters published
about WMY 2000.
The Turn of the Century Committee
IMU has established the "Turn of the Century Committee", which will organize an
effort to envision what the great challenges of 21st century will be. The
members of the Turn of the Century Committee are
- Chair:
- Jacob Palis (IMU secretary, Brazil)
- Members:
- V. I. Arnold (Steklov Mathematical Institute in Moscow, Russia)
Friedrich Hirzebruch (Max-Planck Institut für Mathematik, Germany)
László Lovász (Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Yale University, USA)
Barry Mazur (Harvard University, USA)
S. Mizohata (University of Kyoto, Japan)
G. D. Mostow (Yale University, USA)
J. Tits (Collège de France)
William P. Thurston (Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, USA)
S.R.S. Varadhan (Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, USA)
Server for the World Mathematical Year 2000