Mathematics has become a vastly diverse subject over
history, and there is a corresponding need to categorize the different
areas of mathematics (and the
Langlands program has found unexpected connections between areas previously thought unconnected, at least
Galois groups,
Riemann surfaces and
number theory). A number of different classification schemes have arisen, and though they share some similarities, there are differences due in part to the different purposes they serve. In addition, as mathematics continues to be developed, these classification schemes must change as well to account for newly created areas or newly discovered links between different areas. Classification is made more difficult by some subjects, often the most active, which straddle the boundary between different areas.