Dyson and His Mathematical Insights

Abstract:

Freeman Dyson delivered the Ramanujan lecture here last spring. Last fall, the Institute for Advanced Study celebrated his 90th Birthday (actually Dec. 15, 2013) with a two day conference: Dreams of Earth and Sky. I was fortunate enough to be one of the speakers. I chose to highlight some of his paradoxically profound yet simple number-theoretic insights and the history surrounding them. In light of his recent visit here, I will present a revised version of that birthday talk.