If your idea of mathematics is limited to algebra, calculus and geometry, we have got news — there are more than 500 categories and subcategories to the subject. And it is about to be revised.
The Mathematics Subject Classification (MSC) table includes over 60 categories with many sub-categories for each. From the familiar ones like set theory, graph theory, number theory and metric theory, to the more obscure ones, it is all there in the list made in 2010 , when the last classification exercise took place.
Easy access
The MSC list is created jointly by the editorial staff members of Mathematical Reviews and Zentralblatt f¨ur Mathematik , both pioneer maths publishers. They consult the mathematical community when making the list and also accept inputs from the general public.
Started in the 1940s, the list helps authors, editors and readers to search for academic papers published under a particular subject.
The list has an alpha-numeric system. For instance, 08 stands for General Algebraic Systems, 08A is Algebraic structures and at deeper layer you find Partial Algebras (08A 55).
Many authors use the subject code when submitting an article on a particular field. Browsing the MSC database can help you keep up with the new advances in your field of interest.
MSC 2020
The MSC list gets a revision every 10 years, and the new MSC 2020 list will be out in 2020. Suggestions for new categories were invited in July 2016 and will be open till this August. Many cross-disciplinary categories are expected to come out in the new list. Numerical algebraic geometry, Topological data analysis, Algebraic Statistics, Computer-assisted proofs are some of the categories in the current suggestions.
