Spencer Bloch is a R. M. Hutchins Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics of the University of Chicago. He is known for his extraodinary contributions to algebraic geometry and algebraic K-theory. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Professor Bloch gave invited lectures at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1978 and in 1990.

Abstract: Basic notions of periods and connections on curves. 19-th century applications: Bessel, hypergeometric, Legendre...functions and differential equations. 21-st century applications: Quantum differential equations, mirror symmetry.