Poincare conjecture

mimo2005 · 08-21-2006, 06:24 AM

Grisha Perelman, where are you?

Three years ago, a Russian mathematician by the name of Grigory Perelman, a.k.a. Grisha, in St. Petersburg, announced that he had solved a famous and intractable mathematical problem, known as the Poincare conjecture, about the nature of space.

After posting a few short papers on the Internet and making a whirlwind lecture tour of the United States, Perelman disappeared back into the Russian woods in the spring of 2003, leaving the world's mathematicians to pick up the pieces and decide if he was right.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NG71KJJPK1.DTL

Quote:

"You don't see what you're seeing until you see it," Thurston said, "but when you do see it, it lets you see many other things."

That's the most succinct explanation of learning I've seen in a long time. Beautiful.

bry623 · 08-22-2006, 07:05 AM

Sounds like Yogi Berra---------- It ain't over till it's over.

mimo2005 · 08-22-2006, 07:09 PM

Russian refuses math's highest honor

MADRID, Spain - A reclusive Russian won the math world's highest honor Tuesday for solving a problem that has stumped some of the discipline's greatest minds for a century — but he refused the award.

Grigory Perelman, a 40-year-old native of St. Petersburg, won a Fields Medal — often described as math's equivalent of the Nobel prize — for a breakthrough in the study of shapes that experts say might help scientists figure out the shape of the universe.

John Ball, president of the International Mathematical Union, said that he had urged Perelman to accept the medal, but Perelman said he felt isolated from the mathematics community and "does not want to be seen as its figurehead." Ball offered no further details of the conversation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060822/...in_math_genius

ps : he was snobbed at first , and now they recognize his talent .

08-22-2006, 07:05 AM	#2 (permalink)
bry623 Manager, The Conversation Pit/Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: NW Territory circa 1787 Posts: 10,621 OS: winxp pro sp2	Sounds like Yogi Berra---------- It ain't over till it's over. __________________ "Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem." -Ronald Reagan

08-22-2006, 07:09 PM	#3 (permalink)
mimo2005 Manager, The Relaxation Room/Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 11,137 OS: xp	Russian refuses math's highest honor MADRID, Spain - A reclusive Russian won the math world's highest honor Tuesday for solving a problem that has stumped some of the discipline's greatest minds for a century — but he refused the award. Grigory Perelman, a 40-year-old native of St. Petersburg, won a Fields Medal — often described as math's equivalent of the Nobel prize — for a breakthrough in the study of shapes that experts say might help scientists figure out the shape of the universe. John Ball, president of the International Mathematical Union, said that he had urged Perelman to accept the medal, but Perelman said he felt isolated from the mathematics community and "does not want to be seen as its figurehead." Ball offered no further details of the conversation. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060822/...in_math_genius ps : he was snobbed at first , and now they recognize his talent . __________________ TSF has outgrown its server, again. Please help "Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed saepe cadendo"