Preface to the special issue celebrating 50 years of the Journal of Engineering Mathematics

Excerpt

Fifty years ago the first ever issue of the Journal of Engineering Mathematics was published by Noordhoff International Publishing based in Leyden in The Netherlands. Issue 1 of volume 1 contained 86 pages of science made up of five original research papers, namely “Initial-value problem for the motion in an undulating sea of a body with fixed equilibrium position” by J. V. Wehausen, “A general method of solving the plane elasto-plastic problem” by R. Nottrot and R. Timman, “Numerical approximation of Fresnel integrals by means of Chebyshev polynomials” by R. J. Hangelbroek, “Uniformly valid approximations in two-dimensional subsonic thin airfoil theory” by H. W. Hoogstraten, and “Magnetic force on two staggered slotted half-planes” by G. W. Veltkamp and J. J. A. M. Brands, as well as two short book reviews (a regular feature of the early issues). The stated aim of the new journal was

to promote the application of mathematics to engineering problems and to stress the intrinsic unity of the fundamental problems of different branches of engineering. Manuscripts of a purely mathematical character are only considered for publication if their bearing on engineering subjects is apparent, on the other hand contributions on engineering subjects are only acceptable if the mathematical approach to the problem considered is essential.

Fifty years later, the present aims and scope of the Journal are essentially the same as those of the first issue, albeit with a considerably wider scope, namely “to promote the application of mathematics to problems from engineering and the applied sciences”, and throughout the intervening time it has maintained its reputation for publishing high-quality research papers describing the use of mathematics to bring new insight into real-world problems. …