History First Female Fields Medallist Makes History

[Opalg]

Good to see mathematics hitting the headlines this morning, with news of the first-ever female Fields medallist.

 

[Jameson]

This is great news! It's a bit surprising that the prize money is around 8,000 pounds though. Such a large prize should be of the order of magnitude of 100,000 or 1,000,000 surely...?

 

[Opalg]

This is great news! It's a bit surprising that the prize money is around 8,000 pounds though. Such a large prize should be of the order of magnitude of 100,000 or 1,000,000 surely...?

$15000 (Canadian) to be precise. Nobody goes into mathematics with the idea of becoming a millionaire. (Shake)

 

[Jameson]

Haha, very true! I guess I meant in comparison to the MacArthur Genius Grant or the Nobel Prize, which are arguably on the same level of esteem it seems rather small, especially since it's given out once every four years. Still it is not a petty sum of money and the prestige of it is truly remarkable. Congrats to Maryam Mirzakhani!