4 ms·
It's just prizes guys. Everyone in mathematics knows that 'win a Fields medal' is not a realistic goal unless you're like Terry Tao or Peter Scholze - you need
by sweezyjeezy 4y ago
It's just prizes guys. Everyone in mathematics knows that 'win a Fields medal' is not a realistic goal unless you're like Terry Tao or Peter Scholze - you need a lot of luck as well as talent.
There are other math prizes available that try to fill the gap with the Nobel prize - most notably the Abel prize, and the Wolf prize, these should possibly supplant the Fields medal (or maybe the Fields medal should just lose its age restriction). There are also other prizes available for young 'promising' mathematicians, for example the SASTRA Ramanujan prize in Number theory / combinatorics, or Clay research fellowships. I don't know if it makes sense to move the Fields medal closer to this now, given how it's outgrown its original prestige.
- throwaway5752 4y ago"maybe the Fields medal should just lose its age restriction" I agree completely. The IMU should take a page from other academies and have prizes for lifetime accomplishments, substantial contributions during a year or some other period, and then maybe a more minor prize for new and upcoming mathematicians. The restriction that the Fields can only be awarded to a person once is equally arbitrary and needing to change. It particularly bothers me how the age 40 restriction puts women mathematicians who would like to have children at a disadvantage.