We're looking for inspiring images that illustrate your favourite mathematical ideas. Illustrations, photographs, computer simulations or even clever doodles — anything that's colourful and inspirational. The best fifty images will be used as part of a book fifty to be published by Oxford University Press to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA). The book will contain fifty examples of the best writing on mathematics, both popular and technical, aimed at a general audience. We also plan to reuse the best images (fully credited to you) in publicity for the IMA, especially its 50th Anniversary.

The idea is that these images should be able to stand alone, like pictures in an art gallery, with minimal explanation. They should ideally be approximately square or portrait style and sufficiently striking to be readable when reproduced at a size of approximately 10cm². You need to hold the copyright for the image.

Please submit images, in low resolution at this stage, to ima50@maths.cam.ac.uk by or before 12th May 2013, along with any appropriate explanation or attribution text. Please using the word IMAGE in the header. We encourage you to be creative!