Oxford University Invariant Society

The Society was founded in 1936 by J. H. C. Whitehead together with two of his students at Balliol College, Graham Higman^[4] and Jack de Wet.^[5] The name of the society was chosen at random by Higman from the titles of the books on Whitehead's shelf;^[6] in this case, Oswald Veblen's Invariants of Quadratic Differential Forms. The opening lecture was given by G. H. Hardy in Hilary Term 1936, with the title 'Round Numbers'.^[7][8]

Though many members joined the armed forces during the war, meetings continued, including lectures by Douglas Hartree and Max Newman, as well as debates - 'Is Mathematics an end in itself?' - and mathematical films.^[9]

The society has hosted hundreds of prominent mathematicians,^[10] including lectures by Benoit Mandelbrot,^[11] Sir Roger Penrose,^[12] and Simon Singh.^[13]

Since 1961, the Society has published a magazine entitled The Invariant.^[14]

• Official website
• Archive of old termcards and committee lists