NEW: LISTEN HERE TO MY BBC REPORT ON THE ICM, FROM 21MINS IN

Today is the final day of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2010, which has been taking place in Hyderabad, India, for the last ten days.

The ICM is a rather superlative beast: the largest, most prestigious and most traditional event in maths.

About 3,000 mathematicians attend. At its opening ceremony, the Fields Medals are awarded, maths’ most coveted prize. And the event has a history going back to 1897, when 242 mathematicians from 16 countries met in Zurich, beginning what can fairly be described as a new era for the subject.

No other scientific discipline has an event as big and with as much historic resonance.

The purpose of the ICM – which in its postwar period has taken place every four years since 1950 (just like the World Cup) – is to present a summary of recent achievements and to set the agenda of where the subject is going.

I decided to attend this year. I flew to Hyderabad (pictured above) and stayed for the first five days. Here follows some comments and observations about the event. Read more…