April 9, 2004

Jilted by Sweden, Feted by Norway, Mathematics Finally Gets Its Due

By DANIEL ROCKMORE

Like clockwork each fall since 1901, the announcements have come forth from Sweden heralding the new class of science heroes, that year's Nobel laureates. Almost always the honored discoveries in physics, chemistry, medicine, and economics are written in the language of mathematics. Nevertheless, to the public's surprise and often to the irritation of the discipline's practitioners, there is no Nobel Prize in mathematics.

Last year, however, a math award equal in stature arrived on the

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