The Annales Scientifiques de l'École Normale Supérieure were founded in 1864 by Louis Pasteur who was at that time Director of Scientific Studies at the École Normale Supérieure. Besides mathematics, the journal dealt with subjects touching on physics, chemistry and natural sciences. For many years, its editorial committee was composed of Professors at the École. Around the turn of the century, it was decided that the journal should be devoted to mathematics.Among the members of the different Editorial Committees, were:in 1869: C. Briot, C. Hermite and J.-V. Puiseux.in 1900: P. Appel, E. Borel, E. Goursat, G. Koenigs, E. Picard, J. Tannery, J. Bertrand, G. Darboux, C. Hermite, P. Painlevé and L. Raffy.in 1939: E. Borel, E. Cartan, J. Hadamard, G. Julia, H. Lebesgue, P. Montel, E. Picard and E. Vessiot.in 1969: F. Bruhat, H. Cartan, A. Lichnerowicz, J.-L. Lions and J.-P. Serre.in 1986: A. Beauville, J.-M. Bismut, M. Duflo, M. Gromov, J.-P. Labesse, J. Sjöstrand, A.S. Sznitman and B. Teissier.In principle, the Annales cover all fields of mathematics. The Editorial Committee, with the help of referees, attracts and selects articles which are mathematically very substantial and maintains a tradition of clarity and rigour in the exposition.