The Thermodynamics of Black Holes -- to Quantum Fields in Curved Spacetime and the Hawking Effect -- Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity -- Lectures on D-branes, Tachyon Condensation, and String Field Theory -- Billiard Dynamics of Einstein-Matter Systems Near a Spacelike Singularity -- Tall Tales from de Sitter Space -- Causal Sets: Discrete Gravity -- Thermaldecay of the Cosmological Constant into Black Holes.

The 2002 Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute School on Quantum Gravity was held at the Centro de Estudios Cientificos (CECS),Valdivia, Chile, January 4-14, 2002. The school featured lectures by ten speakers, and was attended by nearly 70 students from over 14 countries. A primary goal was to foster interaction and communication between participants from different cultures, both in the layman’s sense of the term and in terms of approaches to quantum gravity. We hope that the links formed by students and the school will persist throughout their professional lives, continuing to promote interaction and the essential exchange of ideas that drives research forward. This volume contains improved and updated versions of the lectures given at the School. It has been prepared both as a reminder for the participants, and so that these pedagogical introductions can be made available to others who were unable to attend. We expect them to serve students of all ages well.