Talk:Fields Medal

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One of the 500 most frequently viewed mathematics articles.

There is a rumour about Terence Tao for 2006, but we can't get ahead of the official announcement from the International Mathematical Union. Charles Matthews 08:10, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Has the rumour been published by anyone? Dmn € Դմն 10:12, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

What counts? [1]? I expect the invitations to the ICM go out, and then you get some rumours from those in the know. In any case it is not particularly encyclopedic to put this in the page, yet. Charles Matthews 13:48, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

There is a rumour about russian Pereleman for 2006 too. This was published by the italian Il Giornale 3 days ago. 81.211.207.32 10:40, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I'll leave you all to argue about whether Terry Tao is US or AU...Cancerward 10:10, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Also need to note somewhere that Perelman declined it. Cancerward 10:11, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Still only a rumor though. You should probably wait for a official statement, or until the conference actually took place, until stating that as a fact... --17:13, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Wiles and the medal

So the current fix of having Wiles listed under "laureates" as having received a silver plaque, is quite unsatisfactory. He's not a laureate and shouldn't be listed there as that just would confuse people not familiar with the whole story of the plaque. I think it may just be best to mention Wiles and the whole age limit thing. Plenty of sources have discussed this, so we would not fall prey to the NOR policy. It would make for a useful and interesting addition to the article --C S (Talk) 08:43, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

I made a new section entitled "unusual circumstances" which includes this stuff and other unusual events. I added a couple of good sources and tried to phrase things in a careful manner, but it could probably use a bit more sourcing and perhaps more content (if anybody can find an interesting quote by a famous mathematician, say). --C S (Talk) 21:29, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
"unusual circumstances" is an unsatisfactory heading, but the best I could think of...--C S (Talk) 21:51, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Age limit

Why is there one?

To give winners time to enjoy. --Alextalk 03:33, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
The genesis of the rule that it be awarded only to mathematicians no older than forty is evidently the statement that “… while it was in recognition of work already done, it was at the same time intended to be an encouragement for further achievement on the part of the recipients and a stimulus to renewed effort on the part of others”. The above is a quote from the website of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences treesmill 17:26, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] John G. Thompson

Why is he marked as GB? kuszi 12:24, 15 August 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Field of research of each recipient

One improvement that could be made would be to add a phrase next to each recipient indicating his/her general field of research.

that would work better for some than others. At any rate, I think this is potentially misleading and should be avoided. --C S (Talk) 13:45, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Why it there no Wikipedia category...

..for people who have been awarded the Fields medal? Apokrif 16:09, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Category:Fields Medalists...?  Regards, David Kernow 01:26, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Colbert mention

Is the mention of the Colbert Report really applicable/necessary? Wclark3 01:22, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't seem necessary to me although that is a funny stunt. If no one else objects I'll remove it. JoshuaZ 01:28, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
I agree, and I removed it. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 02:26, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
Is it not as relevant as the mention of Eureka and others?

I'm not dead set on having it, but it does seem to fit the bill of example in popular culture. Of course, that may just be an example of systemic bias. I think it does no harm (at least not any more than the other examples), and these examples, I think, occur rarely enough that "cruft" should not be an issue. Presumably that is why there is such a section to begin with... --C S (Talk) 13:44, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

The section has been removed and I agree with the removal. I don't think it added anything crucial. Cruft may not be an issue but the section sticks out like a sore thumb. --Horoball 10:12, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] photograph

{{Reqphoto}} Polish Wikipedia has pictured of the medals. --64.229.224.60 05:25, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

  • Unfortunately the licensing of the pictures in the Polish article appears to be questioned at present... Thanks, though, for the pointer, David Kernow 13:17, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Found one at [2]. Its from a national lab that allows noncommercial use, but I don't think it's public domain.Enjoyhats 05:27, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
The IMU has put up some public domain images, which are now in the article. Interesting note: the pictures are supposed to be of the actual medal that was to have gone to Perelman. --C S (Talk) 20:41, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Comparison to the Nobel prize

The article implies that the Fields Medal is more special as it's only awarded every 4 years. However, since up to 4 mathematicians can be recognised at once, the point is a little moot isn't it? Stevage 08:33, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Typically the Nobel prize is awarded from 2 to 4 people yearly for each field. Med 10:16, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
Actually no more than 3 nobel prizes are handed out per year and field. Otherwise your point is correct though.
I think that Abel Prize is more similar to Nobel prize. It's awarded annually, there is no age restriction, and laureat receives cca 755 000 €. Maybe it should be mentioned in the article. --Ondrejsv 19:57, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mathematics' greatest prize?

At the beginning of the article it says that the Fields Medal is widely viewed as the greatest prize in mathematics. Although I give credit to the writers for documenting this -- including a recent article in the Notices of the AMS -- I think that most people are simply repeating the "mathematics' greatest prize" tagline by force of habit. I am a mathematician, and if you ask me what prize I would most like to receive, it would certainly be the Abel Prize. Part of this is that the cash award of the AP is about 100 times that of the FM, but the fact that AP is not age restricted (so is more fair) and that at a moment when the worldwide mathematical community is at a larger size than ever before, fewer AP's have been awarded makes the AP seem more competitive are both additional considerations. I ask that the text be changed to something like "which has traditionally been held to be" with an explicit comparison to the Abel Prize. Plclark 06:18, 30 September 2007 (UTC)Plclark

You may prefer an Abel Prize over the Fields Medal for whatever reasons, but that's not sufficient to change the statement as you wish. --Horoball 10:10, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Listing ceremony locations

At times the location of the ceremony was a move issue (like boycotts by Alexander Grothendieck and soviet government restrictions, etc). Maybe we should list the city/country where each ceremony was held next to the year. If noone disapproves (or does it before me) then I will try to add them after my exams --DFRussia 00:34, 22 October 2007 (UTC)