6 ms·

Notably, Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman to win a Fields medal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mirzakhani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mirza

by IvyMike 12y ago

Notably, Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman to win a Fields medal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mirzakhani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mirzakhani

kiyoto 12y ago
Also notably, 1. Mirzakhani is the first Iranian 2. Bhargava is the first Canadian 3. Hairer is the first Austrian 4. Avila is the first Brazilian
- titter 12y ago
  Since there are still ~200 countries without a Fields Medal, this isn't mathematically remarkable in comparison to the parent point. So, I understand instead that you're identifying this as notable for the following reason: There are 100 times more women in the world than Canadians, yet women and Canadians have the same number of Fields Medals.
  - IvyMike 12y ago
    First of all, there's not enough data to be statistically significant in any of my ramblings, so it's all kind of hand-wavy and I apologize for that. But my general feeling is that there used to be a few "powerhouse" countries and institutions that dominated, but that has been changing for many years. There's a lot more diversity these days. So I think kiyoto's point speaks to the changes there. In 1950, it would have been pretty inconceivable that a woman from Iran would have had the access and opportunities to contribute to mathematics in a way that would have earned a Fields medal; in 2014, it's a first-time feat; hopefully, in the future, it quickly becomes mundane.
    - conjectures 12y ago
      "not enough data to be statistically significant" ^suspect this is incorrect.
- cylinder 12y ago
  Mirzakhani is the first woman to ever win, which is even more notable than being the first Iranian.
  - eternalban 12y ago
    True. But now she takes her rightful place in a line reaching back to Omar Khayyam and earlier. Congratulations to Maryam Mirzakhani.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
melling 12y ago
Well, as an undergrad, she went to one of the best universities in the world. http://www.newsweek.com/surprising-success-irans-universities-87853 http://www.newsweek.com/surprising-success-irans-universitie... We don't hear about it much, but Iran has one of the best universities in the world.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- mehrdada 12y ago
  It's important to note that successful Iranians generally become successful _despite_ the country they grow up in, not because of it. In my opinion, and having first-hand experience with that environment, the credit for this incredible achievement belongs to her and herself only.
  - neves 12y ago
    I don't know of the details of the Math World, but probably this isn't true. Till now, a country as big as Brazil, one of the biggest economies of the world, never had won none of the most important scientific prizes. Argentina, our neighbor, has 3: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country#Argentina http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_coun... The medal is not just Artur brilliance and hard work, but also due to the IMPA: http://www.impa.br/ http://www.impa.br/ A sixty years old institution that gathered Brazil best mathematicians and gave Artur the resources to become a great researcher. Brazil had to cultivate and invest in this institution for decades. Iran has great universities: http://www.newsweek.com/surprising-success-irans-universities-87853 http://www.newsweek.com/surprising-success-irans-universitie... The Medal is is probably just crowning their hard work.
    - mehrdada 12y ago
      I am well aware of the quality of the schools in Iran and can directly compare it US schools, having gone to school in both countries. That Newsweek article is not surprising to me, but in some areas it is inaccurate in my opinion. You do see high quality individuals graduating from Sharif university, which is highlighted in the article, but concluding the school itself is "successful" or competitive is incorrect. The fact of the matter is that there is a nationwide exam to enter college level education for all schools and you basically choose your school (and major) based on your rank in that exam. In that society, engineering majors, specifically Electrical Engineering majors, tend to have high status, so if you do well, you end up going to study EE at Sharif University, probably not because you are a fan of EE or you think Sharif is any good: it just has to be better than other schools. The outcome of this is simple: you'll have selected top N individuals from an exam of half a million people and put them in a single school. Of course you're going to see those people shine. That says _nothing_ about the absolute quality of what that school gives you, just how good it is relative to its peers in the country, and I define quality as "output - input". The "input" is high quality, but the delta is merely meh in my opinion. Also, the students are high quality--the faculty are generally not (unlike what's mentioned in the article), but they do end up taking some credit. In terms of the contribution of the country, I can just say that she is a survivor of an accident years ago, where seven talented math students died, whom had similar achievements to hers at the time. Overall, the contribution of the country to its mathematicians has been negative, specifically so to the female ones.
boxyhendrix 12y ago
Thank you for pointing that out. I hadn't actually noticed after glancing at the pictures that a woman was among the winners. EDIT - I'm not trying to be funny, her hairstyle makes her look like she has a receding hairline so I thought she was a man.
- boxyhendrix 12y ago
  Wow! I seem to have touched a nerve.
  - Dewie 12y ago
    Remarking that a woman looks like a man (or vice versa) is often seen as insulting, even if the intent is not to insult.
StandardFuture 12y ago
Hehe, I imagine Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī [0] would be very proud of her. :) [0]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu%E1%B8%A5ammad_ibn_M%C5%ABs%C4%81_al-Khw%C4%81rizm%C4%AB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu%E1%B8%A5ammad_ibn_M%C5%ABs%C...

by IvyMike 12y ago

Notably, Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman to win a Fields medal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mirzakhani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Mirzakhani

kiyoto 12y ago

Also notably, 1. Mirzakhani is the first Iranian 2. Bhargava is the first Canadian 3. Hairer is the first Austrian 4. Avila is the first Brazilian

titter 12y ago
Since there are still ~200 countries without a Fields Medal, this isn't mathematically remarkable in comparison to the parent point. So, I understand instead that you're identifying this as notable for the following reason: There are 100 times more women in the world than Canadians, yet women and Canadians have the same number of Fields Medals.
- IvyMike 12y ago
  First of all, there's not enough data to be statistically significant in any of my ramblings, so it's all kind of hand-wavy and I apologize for that. But my general feeling is that there used to be a few "powerhouse" countries and institutions that dominated, but that has been changing for many years. There's a lot more diversity these days. So I think kiyoto's point speaks to the changes there. In 1950, it would have been pretty inconceivable that a woman from Iran would have had the access and opportunities to contribute to mathematics in a way that would have earned a Fields medal; in 2014, it's a first-time feat; hopefully, in the future, it quickly becomes mundane.
  - conjectures 12y ago
    "not enough data to be statistically significant" ^suspect this is incorrect.
cylinder 12y ago
Mirzakhani is the first woman to ever win, which is even more notable than being the first Iranian.
- eternalban 12y ago
  True. But now she takes her rightful place in a line reaching back to Omar Khayyam and earlier. Congratulations to Maryam Mirzakhani.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

melling 12y ago

Well, as an undergrad, she went to one of the best universities in the world. http://www.newsweek.com/surprising-success-irans-universities-87853 http://www.newsweek.com/surprising-success-irans-universitie... We don't hear about it much, but Iran has one of the best universities in the world.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
mehrdada 12y ago
It's important to note that successful Iranians generally become successful _despite_ the country they grow up in, not because of it. In my opinion, and having first-hand experience with that environment, the credit for this incredible achievement belongs to her and herself only.
- neves 12y ago
  I don't know of the details of the Math World, but probably this isn't true. Till now, a country as big as Brazil, one of the biggest economies of the world, never had won none of the most important scientific prizes. Argentina, our neighbor, has 3: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country#Argentina http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_coun... The medal is not just Artur brilliance and hard work, but also due to the IMPA: http://www.impa.br/ http://www.impa.br/ A sixty years old institution that gathered Brazil best mathematicians and gave Artur the resources to become a great researcher. Brazil had to cultivate and invest in this institution for decades. Iran has great universities: http://www.newsweek.com/surprising-success-irans-universities-87853 http://www.newsweek.com/surprising-success-irans-universitie... The Medal is is probably just crowning their hard work.
  - mehrdada 12y ago
    I am well aware of the quality of the schools in Iran and can directly compare it US schools, having gone to school in both countries. That Newsweek article is not surprising to me, but in some areas it is inaccurate in my opinion. You do see high quality individuals graduating from Sharif university, which is highlighted in the article, but concluding the school itself is "successful" or competitive is incorrect. The fact of the matter is that there is a nationwide exam to enter college level education for all schools and you basically choose your school (and major) based on your rank in that exam. In that society, engineering majors, specifically Electrical Engineering majors, tend to have high status, so if you do well, you end up going to study EE at Sharif University, probably not because you are a fan of EE or you think Sharif is any good: it just has to be better than other schools. The outcome of this is simple: you'll have selected top N individuals from an exam of half a million people and put them in a single school. Of course you're going to see those people shine. That says _nothing_ about the absolute quality of what that school gives you, just how good it is relative to its peers in the country, and I define quality as "output - input". The "input" is high quality, but the delta is merely meh in my opinion. Also, the students are high quality--the faculty are generally not (unlike what's mentioned in the article), but they do end up taking some credit. In terms of the contribution of the country, I can just say that she is a survivor of an accident years ago, where seven talented math students died, whom had similar achievements to hers at the time. Overall, the contribution of the country to its mathematicians has been negative, specifically so to the female ones.

boxyhendrix 12y ago

Thank you for pointing that out. I hadn't actually noticed after glancing at the pictures that a woman was among the winners. EDIT - I'm not trying to be funny, her hairstyle makes her look like she has a receding hairline so I thought she was a man.

boxyhendrix 12y ago
Wow! I seem to have touched a nerve.
- Dewie 12y ago
  Remarking that a woman looks like a man (or vice versa) is often seen as insulting, even if the intent is not to insult.

StandardFuture 12y ago

Hehe, I imagine Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī [0] would be very proud of her. :) [0]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu%E1%B8%A5ammad_ibn_M%C5%ABs%C4%81_al-Khw%C4%81rizm%C4%AB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu%E1%B8%A5ammad_ibn_M%C5%ABs%C...