Crises In Mathematics (Part 1): A Gathering Tempest

Mathematics, throughout the many pages of history, has had its bright and dismal moments. Crises, some of major proportion, have frequently arisen in a setting quite external to the discipline itself.

Such ominous intervals on the time line of history encompass the great learning decline in western culture immediately following the Later Greek Era and the fall of the Roman Empire. Mass illiteracy created a climate in which all disciplines, mathematics included, suffered.

Accompanying this decline was the crisis of a substantial loss of mathematical works and manuscripts. The loss is felt even today. Obstacles, such as the language barrier that divided people, the poor dissemination of mathematical findings, rivalry and plagiarism, questionable areas of application, and a recurring but destructive criticism of ideas have all had their adverse bearing on mathematical progress. These threatening forces describe diverse crises but of an external kind.

Table of Contents:

TURNING POINTS

HOW FIRM THE FOUNDATION?

REFERENCES