In celebration of Princeton University's 250th anniversary, the mathematics department held a conference entitled “Prospects in Mathematics”. The purpose of the conference was to speculate on future directions of research in mathematics.

This collection of articles provides a rich panorama of current mathematical activity in many research areas. From Gromov's lecture on quantitative differential topology to Witten's discussion of string theory, new ideas and techniques transfixed the audience of international mathematicians. The volume contains 11 articles by leading mathematicians, including historical presentations by J. Milnor and D. Spencer. It provides a guide to some of the most significant mathematical work of the past decade.