Mathematical Association of America's video: Erica Flapan: An Introduction to Spatial Graph Theory at MAA MathFest 2017

This MAA Invited Address, titled "An Introduction to Spatial Graph Theory, was given at MAA MathFest 2017 in Chicago, IL. Erica Flaplan is a professor of mathematics at Pomona College. Lecture abstract: Spatial graph theory developed in the early 1980's when topologists began using the tools of knot theory to study graphs embedded in 33-dimensional space. Later, this area came to be known as spatial graph theory to distinguish it from the study of abstract graphs. Much of the current work in spatial graph theory can trace its roots back either to the ground breaking results of John Conway and Cameron Gordon on intrinsic knotting and linking of graphs or to the topology of non-rigid molecules. This talk will present the history of spatial graph theory and survey some of the current trends in the field.