Abstract

In these remarks, I’ll indicate a few areas that I think are desiderata for future inquiry in order to better understand how mathematics develops in response to socio-cultural conditions. I will concentrate on aspects of applied mathematics in the period after WW2 . This time is marked, critically, by a deepening and strengthening of the theoretical structures supporting this research; by the development and spread of computing and relevant computational tools; by marked changes in the institutionalization of mathematical practice, not just in universities but in government and industry; by changes in the relationships between mathematics and the state; and by changes in the way mathematical research is transmitted and evaluated. My main aim will be to suggest a few directions that I think could be of particular interest for historians and philosophers and the consumers of their work.