In 1978, in the foreword to Weeding and Sowing: A Preface to a Science of Mathematics Education, Hans Freudenthal wrote that his book is a preface to a science that does not exist. Almost 20 years later, does his claim still hold true?The present book is the result of the reflection of many individuals in mathematics education on this and related questions. Is mathematics education a science? Is it a discipline? In what sense? What is its place within other domains of research and academic disciplines? What accounts for its specificity? In the book, the reader will find a range of possible answers to these questions, a variety of analyses of the actual directions of research in different countries, and a number of visions for the future of research in mathematics education.The book is a result of an ICMI Study, whose theme was formulated as: What is Research in Mathematics Education and What are Its Results?'. One important outcome of this study was the realization of the reasons for the difficulty of the questions that the study was posing, leading possibly to a set of other questions, better suited to the actual concerns and research practices of mathematics education researchers. The book addresses itself to researchers in mathematics education and all those working in their neighborhood who are concerned with the problems of the definition of this new scientific domain emerging at their borders.

In addition to five reports of the 1992 study conference held by the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction--on the object of study, aims of research, specific research questions, results of research, and criteria for result evaluation of mathematics education--these volumes present 34 articles that respond to the questions raised by the conference. The contributions bring together aspects of psychology, sociology, and mathematics in order to elaborate original theories that deal with the complex mutual relationships of cognition, social institutions, and mathematics and answer the question: "What is mathematics education?"
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