There was a sense of the dawning of a new era in which internationalism and shared values would ensure growing prosperity and international order, with Europe firmly at the forefront. Over 100 world fairs were held during this thirty-year period, celebrating erudition, culture, and technological progress. Mathematics, like the other sciences, became a professional activity and reflected the exuberance of the times. The major centers remained the German universities and Paris, but several national mathematical societies were founded (Moscow 1864, London 1865, France 1872, Tokyo 1877, Palermo 1884, New York 1888, Germany 1890).
