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Topic: RE: virus: Russian ignores prize after maths 'breakthrough' (Read 728 times) |
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Blunderov
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RE: virus: Russian ignores prize after maths 'breakthrough'
« on: 2004-09-09 15:55:55 » |
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[Blunderov] This from
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/techscience/story/0,4386,271536,00.html
Russian ignores prize after maths 'breakthrough'
EXETER (England) - A reclusive Russian may have solved one of the
world's toughest mathematics problems and stands to win US$l million
(S$1.7 million) - but he doesn't appear to care.
Mr Grigori Perelman from St Petersburg claims to have solved the
horrendously complicated Poincare Conjecture that tries to explain the
behaviour of multidimensional shapes in space.
It makes him eligible for the prize offered by the Massachusetts-based
Clay Mathematics Institute.
But there is a snag.
He has simply posted his results on the Internet and left his peers to
work out for themselves whether he is right - something they are still
struggling to do.
'There is good reason to believe that Perelman's approach is correct.
But the trouble is, he won't talk to anybody about it and has shown no
interest in the money,' said Dr Keith Devlin, professor of mathematics
at Stanford University in California.
'There won't be a golden moment when he is suddenly accepted as being
right. There will just be a drift in that direction,' he told the annual
meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. --
Reuters
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rhinoceros
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My point is ...
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RE: virus: Russian ignores prize after maths 'breakthrough'
« Reply #1 on: 2004-09-10 12:19:46 » |
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[Blunderov] This from
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/techscience/story/0,4386,271536,00.html
<quote>
Russian ignores prize after maths 'breakthrough'
EXETER (England) - A reclusive Russian may have solved one of the
world's toughest mathematics problems and stands to win US$l million
(S$1.7 million) - but he doesn't appear to care.
Mr Grigori Perelman from St Petersburg claims to have solved the
horrendously complicated Poincare Conjecture that tries to explain the
behaviour of multidimensional shapes in space.
<end quote>
[rhinoceros] The work of Grigori (Grisha) Perelman (Steklov Institute of Mathematics, St Petersburg) has been a hot topic of discussions among mathematicians for almost 2 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman
[rhinoceros] I assume this is the same "reclusive Mr. Perelman" mentioned in this news. There is not even a date. I suspect the article was a result of a chain of clueless reporting starting from Reuters and including at least the Telegraph. Journalists copied and embelished the news to make it more "on the money."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/07/nba107.xml
Russian recluse may have solved $1m sum
07/09/2004
<snip>
[rhinoceros] One annoying thing with this kind of coverage is the lack of any references or links. It is just a story -- take it or leave it. For a more technical view and references you can check here:
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/news/2003-04-15/poincare/
April 15, 2003
For the rest of us, there was a fairly good article in NYTimes last year, which also made an attempt to explain what Poincare Conjecture is about in layman's terms (as far as it is possible).
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/15/science/15MATH.html?ex=1094961600&en=766a23a3e95eafbf&ei=5070
Celebrated Math Problem Solved, Russian Reports
April 15, 2003 (free registration required)
<quote>
Rumors about Dr. Perelman's work have been circulating since November, when he posted the first of his papers reporting the result on an Internet preprint server.
Last week at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he gave his first formal lectures on his work to a packed auditorium. Dr. Perelman will give another lecture series at the State University of New York at Stony Brook starting on Monday.
Dr. Perelman declined to be interviewed, saying publicity would be premature.
For two months, Dr. Tomasz S. Mrowka, a mathematician at M.I.T., has been attending a seminar on Dr. Perelman's work, which relies on ideas pioneered by another mathematician, Richard Hamilton. So far, Dr. Mrowka said, every time someone brings up an issue or objection, Dr. Perelman has a clear and succinct response.
<end quote>
[rhinoceros] Also this one:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_17_163/ai_101339488
Solid proof offered for famous conjecture - Spheres in Disguise - Grigori Perelman proves Poincare conjecture
April 26, 2003
<quote>
More than 100 mathematicians packed a lecture hall at the State University of New York at Stony Brook this week to hear Grigori Perelman of the Steklov Mathematical Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, describe his work.
<end quote>
[rhinoceros] Now, let's go back to the initial news bit.
<quote>
It makes him eligible for the prize offered by the Massachusetts-based
Clay Mathematics Institute.
But there is a snag.
He has simply posted his results on the Internet and left his peers to
work out for themselves whether he is right - something they are still
struggling to do.
'There is good reason to believe that Perelman's approach is correct.
But the trouble is, he won't talk to anybody about it and has shown no
interest in the money,' said Dr Keith Devlin, professor of mathematics
at Stanford University in California.
<end quote>
[rhinoceros] Apparently the guy who wrote the first paragraph is not big on how scientific research works, but he does understand money ("reclusives" don't  ). About the second paragraph, it sounds a bit out of context: What is "it" that Perelman won't talk to anybody about?
BTW, here is photo coverage of Perelman's lectures at MIT:
http://www-math.mit.edu/conferences/simons/photoalbum.html
or
http://www-math.mit.edu/conferences/simons/simons7-a.jpg
Scary? 
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Blunderov
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RE: virus: Russian ignores prize after maths 'breakthrough'
« Reply #2 on: 2004-09-10 17:17:57 » |
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rhinoceros
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 6:20 PM
[rhinoceros] <snip>The work of Grigori (Grisha) Perelman (Steklov
Institute of Mathematics, St Petersburg) has been a hot topic of
discussions among mathematicians for almost 2 years.</snip>
<snip> http://www-math.mit.edu/conferences/simons/simons7-a.jpg Scary?
<snip>
[Blunderov] If I were a journalist I'd be glad if you were not my
editor! Thanks for this great post. (I will get to the Poincare
Conjecture when I am feeling really, really concentrated.)
Looking at the picture I thought 'I know that face'. Don't you think he
looks like the Western image of Jesus? Perhaps this is fanciful, but he
seems to have the same light of genius about him that Dr. Richard
Feynmann had.
Best Regards.
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