The proof of the Mordell conjecture (Q1074679)

Gerd Faltings proved the Mordell conjecture, opening thereby a new chapter in number theory. In fact, his paper [\textit{G. Faltings}, Invent. Math. 73, 349-366 (1983; Zbl 0588.14026)] also establishes two other important conjectures, due to Tate and Shafarevich, and these achievements may well prove to be equally significant. I want to sketch briefly what these three conjectures say and what the ingredients are in Faltings' proof.