Appears in collection : School on the Mathematics of String Theory / Ecole sur les mathématiques de la théorie des cordes

This school consists of an array of courses which at first glance may seem to have little in common. The underlying structure relating gauge theory to enumerative geometry to number theory is string theory. In this short introduction, we will attempt to give a schematic overview of how the various topics covered in this school fit into this overarching framework.