Nobel Prize is often synonymous to great achievements in the field of Science & technology. However, have you wondered why there is no Nobel Prize for Mathematics?
There are many theories; the most entertaining one is about Alfred Nobel’s wife cheating on him with a mathematician causing him not include Mathematics as an awarding theme. However, the most probably reason may be that Alfred Noble being a chemist, inventor and industrialist, did not create a prize in mathematics simply because he was not particularly interested in mathematics or theoretical science. His will speaks of prizes for those ``inventions or discoveries'' of greatest practical benefit to humanity and this is also a reason why in the field of Physics most awardees have been experimentalists and not theoreticians.
So, let us find out more about the Nobel equivalents in the field of Mathematics:
Although the Abel Prize's history dates back to 1899, when its establishment was proposed by the Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie on learning of Alfred Nobel’s snub to the mathematicians, the prize could not be instituted owing to the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. Almost a century later the Government of Norway in 2001, instituted the Abel Committee, appointed by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, which will award the Abel prize.
Indian- American, S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan received this award in 2007 and is recognized as Padma Bhusan (2008) by the Indian Government.
There have been two Indian origin winners, Manjul Bhargava in 2014 (Canadian American, Padma Bhusan Award 2015) and Akshay Venkatesh in 2018 (Australian mathematician).
Instead of being lazy and self-grandizing “jugaad” which is just cheaper inelegant solutions, when will we learn to work hard and develop ground-breaking innovations.
This reminds of a comment made by one of my professors teaching Mathematics in our prestigious IIT. “Beta, I know the answer you gave is much simpler and completely correct, but still I will give you zero because your answer doesn’t match the answer prescribed by the book ( written by some unknown lecturer from Meerut University).”
There are many theories; the most entertaining one is about Alfred Nobel’s wife cheating on him with a mathematician causing him not include Mathematics as an awarding theme. However, the most probably reason may be that Alfred Noble being a chemist, inventor and industrialist, did not create a prize in mathematics simply because he was not particularly interested in mathematics or theoretical science. His will speaks of prizes for those ``inventions or discoveries'' of greatest practical benefit to humanity and this is also a reason why in the field of Physics most awardees have been experimentalists and not theoreticians.
So, let us find out more about the Nobel equivalents in the field of Mathematics:
Abel Prize
The Abel Prize is a Norwegian prize, named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829), and awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. It is modeled as a replica of the Nobel prize and comes with a monetary award of 6 million Norwegian kroner (NOK) (€635,000 or $740,000).Although the Abel Prize's history dates back to 1899, when its establishment was proposed by the Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie on learning of Alfred Nobel’s snub to the mathematicians, the prize could not be instituted owing to the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. Almost a century later the Government of Norway in 2001, instituted the Abel Committee, appointed by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, which will award the Abel prize.
Indian- American, S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan received this award in 2007 and is recognized as Padma Bhusan (2008) by the Indian Government.
Field’s medal
Until Abel award was instituted, the Field Medal was recognized as the top honor for mathematicians and closest equivalent to being a Nobel prize for mathematicians. However, Field medal in its essence has three key differences to Nobel award that makes it as a completely different type of award.- Frequency of award – once every 4 years,
- Number of awards - Only 1 time, awardees become ineligible for later years
- Age limits – below 40 years (on 1 January of the year in which the medal is awarded)
There have been two Indian origin winners, Manjul Bhargava in 2014 (Canadian American, Padma Bhusan Award 2015) and Akshay Venkatesh in 2018 (Australian mathematician).
Disclaimer: The topic ends here and below are a few ravings and rantings from my side on the sorry state of Mathematics in India, which has boasted legends like Ramanujan in the past. If you too patriotic/nationalist/pseudo-intellectual and do not have the heart to stomach some honest debate, please stop here
My note 1 to these Award Community:
This has been a defining theme for many awards; which often start as an initiative to recognize excellence but eventually become instruments of mediocrity used to massage the fragile egos of a few narcissistic minds.My note 2 is for the Indian Government & Academic Institution:
An interesting observation I noted while researching this topic is that most “Indian” award winners actually received when the work they did abroad. I have observed the same with Indian origin Nobel laureates who are actually citizen from other countries when they actually receive the award. We and our, government goes gaga in claiming victory for India and awarding them despite being openly insulted by the awardees and ridiculed by the international community. We should instead ponder why we are unable to develop research and breakthroughs recognized in the world.Instead of being lazy and self-grandizing “jugaad” which is just cheaper inelegant solutions, when will we learn to work hard and develop ground-breaking innovations.
This reminds of a comment made by one of my professors teaching Mathematics in our prestigious IIT. “Beta, I know the answer you gave is much simpler and completely correct, but still I will give you zero because your answer doesn’t match the answer prescribed by the book ( written by some unknown lecturer from Meerut University).”
My note 3 is for Indian parents:
Please stop forcing your kids to remember the answer and teach them to question objectively and understand the topics. Only then will they be able to understand the true essence of scientific thought and apply that knowledge in their life. Stop giving too much importance to pieces of papers (sometimes sold as degrees), but rather teach them to actually learn.
