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.