This article is an expanded version of the third author’s presidential address to the London Mathematical Society in November 2005, which was based on work with the other two authors over the preceding year.
The title was inspired by Michael Atiyah’s presidential address delivered in 1976 [Ati78] in which he said “The aspect of mathematics which fascinates me most is the rich interaction between its different branches, the unexpected links, the
Description:
This article is an expanded version of the third author’s presidential address to the London Mathematical Society in November 2005, which was based on work with the other two authors over the preceding year.
The title was inspired by Michael Atiyah’s presidential address delivered in 1976 [Ati78] in which he said “The aspect of mathematics which fascinates me most is the rich interaction between its different branches, the unexpected links, the
surprises.”