2014-12-94

Mathematics EducationICMI ColumnJean-Luc Dorier (Université de Genève, Switzerland)Emma Castelnuovo – In memoriamOn 13 April 2014, shortly afterthe ICMI announced the launchof an award in her name (see theJune 2014 Issue 92 of the EMSNewsletter), Emma Castelnuovopassed away at the age of100 years and four months. Shewas born in Rome in December1913 to the mathematicianGuido Castelnuovo (1865–1952)and to Elbina Enriques, sisterof the mathematician FederigoEnriques. After graduating in mathematics in 1936, sheworked as a librarian at the Institute of Mathematics ofthe University of Rome. Between 1939 and 1943 and dueto Italian racial laws (leggi razziali) she could only findwork as a teacher in a Jewish school. In 1943, the familyfled the Nazi roundups, taking refuge with friends, inhospitals and in religious institutions. After the war, shetaught mathematics in Torquato Tasso Secondary Schoolin Rome and worked intensively with fellow teachers torethink and renovate teaching methods. She publishedseveral books, among them Geometria Intuitiva (whichwas also very popular in Spain in its Spanish version), Didatticadella matematica and La matematica nella realtà(Mathematics in the real world).In her books, Emma Castelnuovo wrote that a mainobjective is to awaken the intuition, the interest ofthe students in the subject and their taste for researchthrough the observation of facts, techniques and fundamentalproperties of geometric figures. She believed thatintuition, interest and taste are not innate but rather thatthey develop when students participate in creative work.Teachers need to stimulate the natural and instinctivecuriosity of students, to lead them through the discoveryof mathematical truths, to convey the idea of doingmathematics by themselves and to instil the need for aprogressive logical reasoning.Her work on didactics of mathematics was very influentialin several countries.The announcement and the call for nominations forthe Emma Castelnuovo Award can be found athttp://www.mathunion.org/icmi/activities/awards/emmacastelnuovo-award/.For information on Jean-Luc Dorier see Newsletter issue93 (September 2014), p. 49.International Congress on MathematicalEducation ICME-13, Hamburg, Germany –Sunday 24 July to Sunday 31 July 2016http://www.icme13.org/The Society of Didactics of Mathematics (Gesellschaftfür Didaktik der Mathematik – GDM) has the pleasureof hosting ICME-13 in 2016 in Germany. The congress– to be held under the auspices of the International Commissionon Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) – will takeplace at the University of Hamburg from Sunday 24 Julyto Sunday 31 July 2016. Hamburg is a bustling cosmopolitanport in the north of Germany and, with 1.8 millioninhabitants, is its second largest city. It offers the perfectenvironment for a challenging congress.We invite participants from all over the world to cometo Hamburg and make ICME-13 a rich experience for all.ICME-3 took place in Germany in 1976 in Karlsruhe andwe are proud to welcome mathematics educators from allover the world back to Germany. The congress attendeeswill experience the very special characteristics of the Germanmathematics education discussion, which is closelyconnected to European traditions of didactics of mathematicsand has seen important recent developments.The Society of Didactics of Mathematics representsthe German speaking community of didactics of mathematics,bringing together mathematics education groupsfrom Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Supported bythe German Mathematical Society, the German EducationalResearch Association and the German Associationfor the Advancement of Mathematics and Science Education,we are eager to welcome ICME-13 participants toGermany.Gabriele Kaiser, University of HamburgConvenor of ICME-13Rudolf vom Hofe, President of the Society ofDidactics of Mathematics54 EMS Newsletter December 2014