The Global Theory of Minimal Surfaces in Flat Spaces

Lectures given at the 2nd Session of the Centro Internazionale Matematico Estivo (C.I.M.E.) held in Martina Franca, Italy, June 7-14, 1999

af W.H. III Meeks

In the second half of the twentieth century the global theory of minimal surface in flat space had an unexpected and rapid blossoming. Minimal surfaces are now studied from several different viewpoints using methods and techniques from analysis (real and complex), topology and geometry.