Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture

In 2001, the University of Texas, Austin held a series of seven general audience evening lectures, “The Millennium Lectures”, based on the “Millennium Prize Problems.” Their aim was to explain to a wide audience the historical background to these problems, why they have resisted many years of serious attempts to solve them, and the roles these problems play in modern mathematics. The lecture series ran throughout the Spring Semester 2001 and were given by members of Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science.