- Abel Prize
The Abel Prize is an international prize presented annually by the
King of Norway to one or more outstandingmathematician s. The prize is named after Norwegian mathematicianNiels Henrik Abel (1802–1829). It has been described as the "mathematician's Nobel" prize byKeith Devlin , [ [http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_04_04.html Abel Prize Awarded: The Mathematicians' Nobel] , maa.org, April 2004.] and is among the most prestigious awards in mathematics. It comes with a monetary award, which in 2008 was US$1.2 million.The
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters annually declares the winner of the Abel Prize after selection by a committee of five international mathematicians. The amount of money that comes with the prize is usually close to one millionUSD , similar to theNobel Prize , which is awarded inSweden andNorway and excludesmathematics . Norway gave the prize an initial funding of NOK 200,000,000 (about $23,000,000USD ) in 2001. The prize is an attempt at creating publicity for mathematics, making the science more prestigious, especially for young people.The prize board has also established an Abel symposium, administered by the
Norwegian Mathematics Society .History
The prize was first proposed to be part of the 1902 celebration of 100th anniversary of Abel's birth. [ [http://www.abelprisen.no/en/abelprisen/historie.html History of the Abel Prize] ] In 1899, shortly before his death,
Sophus Lie proposed establishing an Abel Prize when he learned thatAlfred Nobel 's plans for annual prizes, madeknown in 1897, would not include a prize in mathematics. King Oscar II was willing to finance a mathematics prize in Abel's name, and the mathematiciansLudwig Sylow andCarl Størmer drew up statutes and rules for the proposed prize. However, Lie's influence waned after his death, and the dissolution of theUnion between Sweden and Norway in 1905 ended the first attempt to create the Abel Prize.In 2001, after interest in the prize had risen, a working group was formed to develop a proposal, which was presented to the prime minister of Norway in May. In August 2001, the Norwegian government announced that the prize would be awarded beginning in 2002, the two-hundredth
anniversary of Abel's birth.Laureates
ee also
*
Fields Medal
*List of prizes, medals, and awards – mathematics
*Nemmers Prize in Mathematics
*Nevanlinna Prize
*Schock Prize
*Wolf Prize in Mathematics References
External links
* [http://www.abelprisen.no/en/ The Abel Prize official web site]
* [http://abelsymposium.no/ The Abel Symposium web site]
*
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