Some Thoughts on Modern Mathematical Research

Abstract

Mathematics has a large household and there are always rumours of prospective additions despite her age and her supposed austerity. Without aiming to give a complete list of the names of the members of this household we may recall here a few of the most prominent ones. Among those which antedate the beginning of the christian era are surveying, spherical astronomy, general mechanics and mathematical optics. Among the most thriving younger members are celestial mechanics, thermodynamics, mathematical electricity and molecular physics.