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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
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