A solution to one of the most difficult problems in mathematics was the most important advance of 2006, according to the prestigious journal Science.
Grigory Perelman's proof of the century-old Poincare Conjecture has caused a sensation, and not just because of the brilliance of the work.
In August, the Russian became the first person to turn down a Fields Medal, the highest honour in mathematics.
He also seems likely to turn down a $1m prize offered by a US maths institute.
Dr Perelman is said to despise self-promotion and describes himself as isolated from the rest of the mathematical community.
But his work has set the field alight with excitement - and controversy.
Terence Tao, professor of mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles, called Perelman's result "the best piece of mathematics we have seen in the last 10 years".
Timofey Shilkin, a former colleague of Perelman at the Steklov Mathematics Institute in St Petersburg, Russia, told BBC News: "He definitely deserves the Fields Medal - that is my personal opinion. I am completely sure he is a genius."
'Excellent mathematician'
He added: "I'm afraid he is quite a self-enclosed person. We know about him approximately the same as you know - not too much.
"I met him when he was a member of our group and our contacts were about once a week, but we had only short discussions.
No comments:
Post a Comment