Connecting the Dots: Milestones in Graph Theory

Graph theory is the study of connections, as may be seen in the London Underground map with stations linked by rails, or a transportation network with cities linked by roads. Dating back to the 18th century, the subject increasingly took hold in the 20th century, developing rapidly from mainly recreational puzzles to a mainstream area of study with widespread applications and strong links to computer science.

This illustrated historical talk will survey this century of development.

A lecture recorded by Robin Wilson on 13 June 2023 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:

[monicaaparecidaoliveira]

I learn a great deal with these lectures. Thank you Gresham College.

[davecgriffith]

Great talk. Thanks for making these available!

[barneylaurance]

Just started watching, surprised to see the claim / definition at the start that a graph with no cycles is a tree. I use the git version control system, which has a graph of versions of a software product, connected by "parent" relationships (e.g. version 1.0.0 may be the parent of version 1.0.1). That graph is generally described as a directed acyclic graph, but not a tree. It's the same as a "family tree". It's not a mathematical tree because branches can split and come back together - you can have multiple children, and you can also have children with your own relative (not taboo if it's a distant relative). Branches on a tree mostly don't come back together after they split apart.

[bazsnell]

He might be a very clever guy with loads of academic qualifications, but a public speaker he sure ain't.