Undergraduate Essay Prize
Undergraduate Essay Prize
The BSHM is delighted to announce the winners of its famous undergraduate prize in the History of Mathematics for 2024-25.
Winner: Stephen Dorman (Open University), 'Mollie Orshansky and the Moral Arithmetic of Poverty'.
Runner-up: Shaivi Darsi (Queen Mary University of London), 'From Dice to Derivatives: How 17th-Century Gambling Shaped Modern Financial Mathematics'.
The following are the normal details of the annual award, details of the 2025-26 competition will be announced before the end of February 2026.
The undergraduate essay prize can be written on any aspect from the history of mathematics, in any historical or geographical region. The competition is open to undergraduate or taught masters students at any university in the UK or the Republic of Ireland. Research students are not eligible. Submissions are normally single-authored; please reach out to the Education Officer if you would like to submit a jointly authored paper. If you have any queries about your eligibility, please contact Education Officer Ciarán Mac an Bhaird.
The absolute maximum length for submissions is 3000 words (excluding references), and previous winners or runners up of the undergraduate prize cannot submit another entry.
The award for the best essay is £150 and the winning entry will be considered for publication in our journal, The British Journal for the History of Mathematics. There will be as many run-up prizes awarded as we find appropriate (£50 each). The winner and runners-up will also benefit from free BSHM subscription for a year.