The problems faced by Wikipedia in how it deals with the history of mathematics are very great; it has to deal with history and mathematics all at the same time. This is a very tough assignment. Of course those who work professionally in this field face somewhat similar problems all the time, except that they usually work with a small audience in mind. The ones I have talked to are extremely reluctant to contribute to Wikipedia, and for many reasons.

Anything in Wikipedia faces a potentially large audience. Actually, several different audiences. I don't think this problem is all that well understood by those mathematicians contributing to Wikipdia.

Wikipedia has already become a major source of information about mathematics, for both specialists and non-specialists, students, faculty, and the world at large. I think it is fair to claim that