The mapping class group is the group of orientation preserving homeomorphisms of a surface up to isotopy. In particular, the mapping class group encodes information about the symmetries of a surface. The Nielsen-Thurston classification states that elements of the mapping class group are of one of three types: periodic, reducible, and pseudo-Anosov. In this talk, we will focus our attention on the pseudo-Anosov elements, which are the elements of the mapping class group which mix the underlying surface in a complicated way. In this talk, we will discuss both classical and new results related to pseudo-Anosov mapping classes, as well as the connections to other areas of mathematics.