These talks will be self-contained presentations of mathematical concepts and theorems. They are intended to be accessible to all mathematics
students.  Coffee, tea and drinks will be provided.
 

We all know why an apple falls, gravity pulls it back to earth. But what is this thing we call gravity? How can we describe it? Sir Isaac Newton
proposed his famous "inverse square law" of gravity back in the mid-1700's. His theory accurately explained a wide range of gravitational
phenomena such as the motions of the planets, the tides and the orbit of a falling apple. Einstein proposed a totally different description of
gravity in terms of pure geometry. In this talk we will look at both of these descriptions of gravity, though we will focus on Einstein's
description. The talk will involve only simple mathematics and is intended to provide a good overall view of the conceptual basis of Einstein's
theory of relativity.