Perelman declines Fields medal

As a followup to my previous post on Grisha Perelman, the reclusive Russian mathematician who has apparently conquered the Poincare Conjecture, Matt emails me to point to this story about Perelman declining the Fields medal and quite possibly the one million dollar Clay Mathematics Institute prize.

"I regret that Dr. Perelman has declined to accept the medal," Sir John M. Ball, president of the International Mathematical Union, said during the ceremonies [at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Madrid].

[...]

In June, Dr. Ball traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, where Dr. Perelman lives, for two days in hopes of persuading him to go to Madrid and accept the medal.

"He was very polite and cordial, and open and direct," Dr. Ball said in an interview.

But he was also adamant. "The reasons center around his feeling of isolation from the mathematical community," Dr. Ball said of Dr. Perelman's refusal, "and in consequence his not wanting to be a figurehead for it or wanting to represent it."

Dr. Ball added, "I don't think he meant it as an insult. He's a very polite person. There was never a cross word."

Despite Dr. Perelman's refusal, he is still officially a Fields Medalist. "He has a say whether he accepts it, but we have awarded it," Dr. Ball said.

To each his own, I guess. Dr. Perelman will be forever remembered by the mathematical community whether he wants to accept their congratulations or not.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 24, 2006 to Technology, science, and math | TrackBack