Ramsey theory is a branch of
mathematics concerned with
combinatorics. It's central
theorems are rather broad, (and I lack the information currently to clarify) but the main
contention is "the complete absence of
patterns is impossible". It puts into a
formal mathmatical
framework the idea that in some situations, an amount of what
appears to be
coincidence is certain to occur.
One example could be; take a number of points spread
randomly within a defined area, how many points do you need to be certain that at least one line of three points will occur.
Ramsey theory problems are often very easy to state, and very difficult to solve.
I've been told good introduction can be found in Graham & Rothschild, "Ramsey Theory", in Studies in Combinatorics, Gian-Carlo Rota, ed., MAA Studies in Mathematics, Volume 17, MAA, 1978.