homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Iranian is the first woman to win prestigious math award

Maryam Mirzakhani, who was born and raised in Iran, has been awarded the highest honour a mathematician can attain: the Fields Medal. It’s one of those moments which will go down in history – for the first time in almos 80 years, a woman has won the Fields Medal (officially known as the International Medal […]

Henry Conrad
August 13, 2014 @ 8:40 am

share Share

Maryam Mirzakhani, who was born and raised in Iran, has been awarded the highest honour a mathematician can attain: the Fields Medal.

It’s one of those moments which will go down in history – for the first time in almos 80 years, a woman has won the Fields Medal (officially known as the International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics). Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian maths professor at Stanford University in California was rumoured to be among the favorites for quite a while, due to her groundbreaking studies, which seem downright esoterical to less mathematical minds.

Born and raised in Iran, Mirzakhani completed a PhD at Harvard in 2004, even though her childhood passion was literature.

“I dreamed of becoming a writer,” she said in an interview for the Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) in 2008. “I never thought I would pursue mathematics before my last year in high school.”

Nowadays, she works on geometric structures on surfaces and their deformations. She has a particular interest in hyperbolic planes, which can look like the edges of curly kale leaves. As a matter of fact, hyperbolic planes are so strange that they may be easier to crochet than explain. Mirzakhani says that while advanced math is not for everybody, most students don’t give math enough chances. Frances Kirwan at Oxford University, one of Britain’s leading mathematicians, said:

“Maths is a hugely rewarding subject, but sadly many children lose confidence very early and never reap those rewards. It has traditionally been regarded as a male preserve, though women are known to have contributed to its development for centuries – more than 16 centuries if we go back to Hypatia of Alexandria.

This may also motivate more female students to dive even deeper into research and academic careers.

“In recent years around 40% of UK undergraduates studying maths have been women, but that proportion declines very rapidly when we look at the numbers progressing to PhDs and beyond. I hope that this award will inspire lots more girls and young women, in this country and around the world, to believe in their own abilities and aim to be the Fields medallists of the future.”

share Share

China Resurrected an Abandoned Soviet 'Sea Monster' That's Part Airplane, Part Hovercraft

The Soviet Union's wildest aircraft just got a second life in China.

A Rocket Carried Cannabis Seeds and 166 Human Remains into Space But Their Capsule Never Made It Back

The spacecraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean after a parachute failure, ending a bold experiment in space biology and memorial spaceflight.

Ancient ‘Zombie’ Fungus Trapped in Amber Shows Mind Control Began in the Age of the Dinosaurs

The zombie fungus from the age of the dinosaurs.

Your browser lets websites track you even without cookies

Most users don't even know this type of surveillance exists.

What's Seasonal Body Image Dissatisfaction and How Not to Fall into Its Trap

This season doesn’t have to be about comparison or self-criticism.

Why a 20-Minute Nap Could Be Key to Unlocking 'Eureka!' Moments Like Salvador Dalí

A 20-minute nap can boost your chances of a creative breakthrough, according to new research.

The world's oldest boomerang is even older than we thought, but it's not Australian

The story of the boomerang goes back in time even more.

Swarms of tiny robots could go up your nose, melt the mucus and clean your sinuses

The "search-and-destroy” microrobot system can chemically shred the resident bacterial biofilm.

What if Every Roadkill Had a Memorial?

Road ecology, the scientific study of how road networks impact ecosystems, presents a perfect opportunity for community science projects.

Fireball Passes Over Southeastern United States

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… a bolide!