Exploring the Presence of Mathematics in the Spanish Weekly Magazine “Alrededor del mundo” (1899–1930)

The presence of recreational problems in mathematics texts is as old as the discipline itself. Recreational mathematics can be useful in education in several ways. This idea was exploited beyond the formal educational contexts already during the 18th c. in Spain, where it was sometimes possible to nd mathematical problems in daily journals that fostered interactions between readers. This was not a local phenomenon, since we know of the presence of recreational mathematics columns in American newspapers from the end of the 19th c. In this paper, we present a rst exploratory approach to the analysis of the presence of mathematics in the Spanish weekly magazine Alrededor del Mundo Around the World, which was published between 1899 and 1930. In this magazine, we nd works of scientic dissemination, questions and answers sections, travel articles, letters to the editor, etc. The last pages were always dedicated to a xed section called Recetas y Recreos Recipes and Recreations, which contained medicinal and gastronomic recipes, chess problems, and also riddles and enigmas that sometimes were of mathematical content. This research aims to analyze the presence of mathematics not only in this recreational section, but also in the entire magazine. Our work illustrates the interest of studying the presence of mathematics in non-formal contexts and environments, and it places this Spanish particular case in what seems to have been a wider international trend.