Grisha got it! It's official now. But he rejected it!!??

[Martin]

here is the official ICM press release

http://www.icm2006.org/press/releases/

 

INFORMATION EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY AUGUST 22ND, 12:00 AM, CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME)

Fields Medal Grigory Perelman CITATION: "For his contributions to geometry and his revolutionary insights into the analytical and geometric structure of the Ricci flow"

 

The name of Grigory Perelman is practically a household word among the scientifically interested public. His work from 2002-2003 brought groundbreaking insights into the study of evolution equations and their singularities. Most significantly, his results provide a way of resolving two outstanding problems in topology: the Poincare Conjecture and the Thurston Geometrization Conjecture. As of the summer of 2006, the mathematical community is still in the process of checking his work to ensure that it is entirely correct and that the conjectures have been proved. After more than three years of intense scrutiny, top experts have encountered no serious problems in the work. For decades the Poincaré Conjecture has been considered one of the most important problems in mathematics. ...

 

===endquote===

more info here

 

http://www.icm2006.org/dailynews/fields_perelman_info_en.pdf

 

 

=====================

 

But he seems to have TURNED THE MEDAL DOWN!

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/2ND_Russian_becomes_first_to_reject_08222006.html

 

this is like refusing an honorably earned Nobel Prize

 

I knew he was considering rejecting it, but I can't believe what this article says, that he finally did so.

[matt grime]

Why can't you believe it? He turned down a prize from the ECM, he resigned his position in the Stekhlov. It was entirely inkeeping with what we have come to expect from him.

 

(And is your caps lock key playing up?)

[Dave]

Why can't you believe it? He turned down a prize from the ECM' date=' he resigned his position in the Stekhlov. It was entirely inkeeping with what we have come to expect from him.

 

(And is your caps lock key playing up?)[/quote']

 

I can understand turning down the money. But turning down the award(s) is just going to lead to more recognition anyway (especially from the press), so why not opt to receive it?

[matt grime]

Well, who's to say that he turned it down because he didn't want recognition (in whatever sense)? I'm sure he has many reasons for declining things, and I'm sure that none of us here knows what they (all) are. Mathematicians do things for many reasons, and recognition is almost never one of them. Some people do actively want to win the Fields medal, though, and one person I spoke to about these things actually said he refused to go to the ICM because there were too many of these self-publicists bound to be there. Perhaps Perelmen is just at the extreme end of those who find it bemusing to be recognised for doing something you enjoy.

[Martin]

The story in the New Yorker is now available free online

 

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060828fa_fact2

 

It is a bit over 14 pages, printed out, and is New Yorker grade journalism, so it's different from what we've seen in newspapers and on the web so far.

[CanadaAotS]

Wow... I read that pdf you posted

 

That went clear over my head lol... Still dont understand 2-spheres, 3-spheres, 2-manifolds, 3-manifolds, etc.

 

I think its pretty big of him to actually resign the award though.