cast a glance at the next advances of our science and at the secrets of its development
during future centuries? What particular goals will there be toward which the
leading mathematical spirits of coming generations will strive? What new methods
and new facts in the wide and rich field of mathematical thought will the new
centuries disclose? History teaches the continuity of the development of science. We know that every age has its own problems, which the following age either solves or casts aside
as pro fitless and replaces by new ones. If we would obtain an idea of the probable
development of mathematical knowledge in the immediate future, we must let the
unsettled questions pass before our minds and look over the problems which the
science of to-day sets and whose solution we expect from the future. To such a
review of problems the present day, lying at the meeting of the centuries, seems to
me well adapted. For the close of a great epoch not only invites us to look back
into the past but also directs our thoughts to the unknown future.
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