In 2003, Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman solved the seemingly unsolvable Poincaré conjecture, a 100-year-old problem, to prove that any shape without a hole can be formed into a sphere. It took until 2010 for a team of mathematicians to validate his results. The problem was one of the seven listed on the Cambridge, Massachusetts’ Clay Mathematics Institute’s Millennium Prize list. The bounty on such a solution is one million dollars and the Fields Medal, math’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Not bad at all, right? However, right after being offered the prize he turned down the offer. The genius refused the prize, claiming the knowledge gained to be worth more than the financial reward. “I’m not interested in money or fame,” Perelman stated. “Emptiness is everywhere and it can be calculated, which gives us a great opportunity. I know how to control the universe. So tell me, why should I run for a million?” he told a local newspaper. The 45-year-old genius still resides humbly with his mother and sister in his hometown of St. Petersburg.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 16:35:34 +0000
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