Geometry and Nature

This volume is the outgrowth of a conference devoted to William K. Clifford entitled, &quote;New Trends in Geometrical and Topological Methods&quote;, which was held at the University of Madeira in July and August 1995. The aim of the conference was to bring together active workers in fields linked to Clifford's work and to foster the exchange of ideas between mathematicians and theoretical physicists. Divided into 6 one-day sessions, each session was devoted to a specific aspect of Clifford's work. This volume is an attempt to bring the Clifford legacy in a new perspective to a larger community of mathematicians and physicists. New concepts, ideas, and results stemming from Clifford's work are discussed. Each article in the book is a self-contained paper that was presented at or submitted to the conference.