Mathematical Reviews facts for kids

Mathematical Reviews is like a giant library and a helpful guide for people who study mathematics and statistics. It's a special journal and an online collection of information. The American Mathematical Society publishes it. Its main job is to collect and summarize almost every new article written about math and related subjects. This helps mathematicians around the world keep up with new discoveries.

What is Mathematical Reviews?

Mathematical Reviews is a very important resource for mathematicians. Think of it as a huge catalog of math papers. When someone writes a new math paper, experts at Mathematical Reviews read it. They then write a short summary, called a "review." This review explains what the paper is about. It also tells if the paper is correct and important.

Why are Reviews Important?

These reviews help mathematicians in many ways. There are thousands of new math papers published every year. It would be impossible for one person to read them all. The reviews help them quickly find papers that are useful for their own work. They can see if a paper has new ideas or solves a problem. This saves a lot of time for researchers.

Who Uses Mathematical Reviews?

Mostly, university professors, students, and researchers use this resource. They use it to find new information for their studies. They also use it to make sure their own research is original. It helps them build on the work of others. Libraries also use it to decide which math journals to buy.

How it Works

When a new math paper is published, it is sent to Mathematical Reviews. An editor then assigns it to a reviewer. The reviewer is usually an expert in that specific area of math. They read the paper carefully. Then, they write a short summary and an evaluation. This review is then published in the journal or added to the online database.

History of Mathematical Reviews

Mathematical Reviews started a long time ago, in 1940. Before that, there was no single place to find all new math papers. It was hard for mathematicians to know what was happening in their field. The American Mathematical Society created it to solve this problem. It has been helping mathematicians ever since. Over the years, it has grown a lot. It now includes millions of reviews.

The Online Database

Today, most people use the online version of Mathematical Reviews. It is called MathSciNet. This online database is very powerful. You can search for papers by author, title, or topic. You can also find papers that cite other papers. This makes it even easier to explore math research. It is updated very often with new reviews.