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Aspects of the life and legacy of American D.E. Smith are discussed. Literature attests to the high regard in which he was held by those who came into contact with him, and to the mark he made--both in his native country and beyond--as a consummate mathematical educator who began reforms in teaching during the early 1900s and as an avid historian whose monumental collection of artefacts was donated (to Columbia University) to inform students and professionals of the time, and those of future generations, about the heritage of the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loathe or love them, reviews and reviewers are considered a necessary evil by some and happily embraced by others, tolerated as an intrusion en route to publication or seen as providing a valuable academic standards safety net. Almost everyone has an opinion on them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Words of Frank F. Bonsall (1920-2011) on what ownership of work should mean for mathematicians--taken from a thought provoking essay published over forty years ago--are still pertinent in 21st century academia where important aspects of intellectual probity lie at the heart of research endeavours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American intellectual Cassius Jackson Keyser (1862-1947) set down a personal philosophy of ideals that underpins the essential elements of aspiration and motivation all of us need for a fulfilled existence--as mathematician, as citizen, sapientia ianua vitae never ceases to apply. Here we have an intriguing dose of percipience from a notable mathematical writer and once regular commentator on the benefits available from mathematics to the human condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is genuine individuality for staff throughout U.K. academia in general, and mathematics by association, becoming eroded? This opinion piece suggests that it is most certainly on the decline, arguing for the accommodation of a wide variety of character types to enhance a workplace now dominated by frenetic busyness and inextricably tangled up with an overbearing compliance threatening to run riot in H.E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some little-known words by David Eugene Smith--American mathematician, educator, and historian of mathematics--appeared well over a century ago. The passages presented provide an appealing general description of mathematical engagement and give a sense of the community in which it takes place, both of which resonate in our modern day tertiary sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this short Note we discuss the main context in which the constant 1/e arises (that is, in certain types of probability problems), and offer derivations of it from a pedagogic point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Musings of British mathematician and logician Augustus de Morgan (1806-1871) provide a light-hearted look at particular types of character that inhabit the world of mathematics and places around it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We state and prove a new result which involves the diagonal entries of any nth root of a general 2×2 matrix belonging to a particular class, and offer supporting examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short essay marks the centenary of a paper authored by C.J. Keyser who, in pondering the various strands of a career in mathematics in 1923, raised themes that are still very much relevant to our tertiary sector--in particular, his intuitions underscore something of the ageless nature of mathematical study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two outstanding thinkers and writers about mathematics each had very interesting things to say about the subject. Their words—although from bygone eras—still carry resonance today, as do those of some other mathematicians which are also included in context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive, using matrices, new classes of linear recurrence identities linking the general term of a degree three linear recurrence sequence with those of an associated ‘cohort’ sequence that differs only in its initial values. The class description is seen to recover that previously established for the so called Horadam sequence and its cohort sequence set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

You aren’t the first, and you won’t be the last, so don’t fight it—accept and embrace the inexorable march of time. Praemonitus praemunitus? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We state and prove a condition for an identity which involves the diagonal entries of any nth root of a general 2 × 2 matrix, and develop a method for obtaining all roots through a so called generator pair of parameters defined by its eigenvalues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]