Non-commutative Geometry Indomitable

Abstract: This paper is a very brief and gentle introduction to non-commutative geometry geared primarily towards physicists and geometers. It starts with a brief historical description of the motivation for non-commutative geometry and then goes on to motivate the subject from the point of view of the the understanding of local symmetries affordee by the theory of groupoids. The paper ends with a very rapid survey of recent developments and applications such as non-commutative toric geometry, the standard model for particle physics and the study of the Riemann Hypothesis.