Talk:Wolf Prize

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Splitting the page is fine; but I'd say implies a duty to redirect the incoming links (mostly to the mathematicians). Charles Matthews 12:05, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Done. A much larger consistency problem exists in how Nobel Prizes are referenced: it seems to alternate between Nobel Prize in Physics and Nobel Prize in Physics. - Udzu

[edit] Prestige in mathematics

An anon has added a comment putting the Abel Prize ahead of the Wolf Prize in Mathematics diff (see also [1]). Unless sources can be provided, this is OR (see WP:OR).

The Wolf Prize in Mathematics usually awards for lifetime achievement which is probably why comparisons with the Nobel are often made. See for example [2] which excerpts a San Francisco Chronicle obit of Chern: "Wolf Prize in mathematics, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize". Furthermore, the Wolf is often mentioned in conjunction with the Fields, e.g. :"...the panel felt that the clear leadership of US mathematics was demonstrated by looking at two of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics: the Fields medal and the Wolf prize." from an NAS/NAE/IoM study "International Benchmarking of US Mathematics Research".[3]

Here's an excerpt from the preface of the two volumes on Wolf Prize mathematics (edited by Chern and Hirzebruch):

There is no Nobel prize in mathematics. Perhaps this is a good thing. Nobel prizes create so much public attention that mathematicians would lose their concentration to work. There are several other prizes for mathematicians. There is the Fields Medal (only for mathematicians); it honours outstanding work and encourages further efforts. (The Abel prize is just in the process of being established.)

"Then there is the Wolf Prize. The Wolf Foundation began its activities in 1976. Since 1978, five or six annual prizes have been awarded to outstanding scientists and artists, irrespective of nationality, race, colour, religion, sex or political view, for achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people. In science, the fields are agriculture, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, and physics; in the arts, the prize rotates annually among music, painting, sculpture and architecture.

"The Fields Medal goes to young people, and indeed many mathematicians do their best work in the early years of their life. The Wolf Prize often honours the achievements of a whole life. But it may also honour the work of young people. The first Wolf Prize winners in mathematics were Izrail M. Gel\cprime fand and Carl L. Siegel (1978). Siegel was born in 1896 and Gel\cprime fand in 1913. Gel\cprime fand is still active at Rutgers University. Several prize winners were born before 1910. Thus the achievements of the prize winners cover much of the twentieth century.

"The documents collected in these two volumes characterize the Wolf Prize winners in a form not available up to now: bibliographies and curricula vitae, autobiographical accounts, reprints of early papers or especially important papers, lectures and speeches, for example at International Congresses, as well as reports on the work of the prize winners by others. Since the work of the Wolf laureates covers a wide spectrum, a large part of contemporary mathematics comes to life in these books."

In any case, my point is that a new award like the Abel (which would only be seen as prestigious really by mathematicians by virtue of giving it first to Fields and Wolf winners....) has not yet been established in reputation, so it is premature to assert that the Abel has displaced the Wolf. It is certainly high-profile (due to the prize money), but why cannot one make the same assertion about it surpassing the Fields? That would be unsubstantiated also. My examples should show that the Fields and Wolf are considered the premier math prizes. To overturn this, the anon needs to provide sources showing a significant change in the status of the Wolf and being displaced by the Abel. Given the new-ness of the prize, I don't think this is really possible. --Chan-Ho (Talk) 11:12, 15 August 2006 (UTC)