Every year on or around Otto Neugebauer’s birthday (May 26), Mathematical Reviews has a little birthday party for him, the founder of Mathematical Reviews. I like it because it is a chance to remind ourselves that our founder did not give in to the demands of the National Socialists to fire Jewish editors and to give special treatment to papers from German mathematicians. Instead, he uprooted himself and moved to a place where he felt that he could re-found his reviewing project free from the interference of government and politicians. The birthday party is a reminder that we at Mathematical Reviews should try to live up to that legacy. At the party, I had some people tell me that now seems like a particularly appropriate time for such a reminder. Perhaps — but Mathematical Reviews has staff from a dozen different countries and five continents, reviewers from over 130 different countries, and covers journals from all over the world. In that broader context, it is always an appropriate time for such a reminder.
For more details about Otto, see the post from two years ago: Happy Birthday Otto Neugebauer.
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Ricardo Sanchez
Mathematics Instructor