Immagine della Matematica tra Concezione e Divulgazione: Contributi di ricercatori italiani nel periodo 1988-'95

This report, written on the occasion of ICME 8 (Sevilla, July 1996) illustrates the Italian studies and initiatives carried out between 1988 and 1995 and aimed at working out a better image and popularisation of Mathematics. More precisely, in part 1 we shall consider images, beliefs and notions associated with mathematics, in part 2 we shall report on investigations carried out to assess the mathematical knowledge of the pupils, in part 3 we shall deal with the popularisation of mathematics with particular reference to some of the aspects involved and the problems posed and, finally, in part 4 we shall briefly draw some conclusions.