Mathematician turns down a million (1 Viewer)

[JCK]

John might be interested in this

Dr Perelman today declined the Fields Medal, the ‘Nobel Prize’ of maths

Dr Perelman is the latest star to adorn the firmament of celebrity. At lunchtime today, it was announced that he had declined the Fields Medal, the 'Nobel Prize' of mathematics. Dr Perelman is a shoo-in for the $1m reward, awarded by the American financier and maths enthusiast Landon Clay, for solving a century-old problem known as the Poincare Conjecture.

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The problem solved by Dr Grigori Perelman will make anyone who last did maths at school feel glad to have quit when they did.

Read about it here

 

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[Snoop]

what is a 1 Million$, even I would refuse that :dontcare:

 

[Martin]

It's clear that he wanted the money in a more solid currency, they should offer Swiss Francs.

 

[mikhail]

Actually, the guy is nuts. I'd heard about him a while back. He'd already said he was refusing the Fields Medal and the million. I guess it's official now.

There's a very interesting related story. The New Yorker published an article about a Chinese mathematician who was trying to take credit for Perelman's work.
http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/060828fa_fact2

Then, there's a very interesting rebuttal from the Chinese guy.
http://www.doctoryau.com/9.18.06.pdf

I'd recommend you read them both, in order. The article leaves you feeling that he's a scoundrel, the rebuttal leave you feeling that the New Yorker article is an awesome hatchet job.

 

[sateeh]

i did the samething just last week

 

[GordoDeCentral]

it was on the colbert report a while back, apparently some chinese dudes tried to take credit for some fo his work so he went all ape shit and is back in his mom's basement formenting his vendetta "monte schizo"

 

[Martin]

I find it interesting that Yau responded through lawyers.

The New Yorker article is very interesting though.

 

[GordoDeCentral]

you can never be too safe with the sneaky russians

 

[mikhail]

it was on the colbert report a while back, apparently some chinese dudes tried to take credit for some fo his work so he went all ape shit and is back in his mom's basement formenting his vendetta "monte schizo"

If you read the articles above, well, I guess I don't know for sure, but it looks to me like the Chinese guy was done. He credited Perelman's work appropriately.

@Martin: how else would he respond? If he's not hiding behind them, then the New Yorker article is probably the single worst piece of defamation I've ever seen - it basically ruins his academic career unless he can crush it like an egg. Even if he's vindicated, his career will be seriously hurt by it.

 

[juventu]

Due to the reputation of Shing-Tung Yau, his story is currently severely 'debated' in China, but the fact is that until now neither Yau's supporters nor opponents is able to convince the other side... anyway, if the report of New Yorker is proved to be true, will feel sorry for Yau.