
American wins $1 million math prize - jamesbritt
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36023457/ns/technology_and_science-science
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ctkrohn
It's nice to see an older mathematician earn some recognition. The Fields
Medal (the most prestigious prize in mathematics) is only given to people
younger than 40, a cutoff which always seemed rather silly to me.

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rguzman
The cutoff is not so silly. Take the Nobel Prize in Physics, for instance. The
award usually makes some already-famous professor more famous. It has no
further impact on their career. I believe the cutoff is to make it more likely
that the Fields Medal will have an tangible impact on the career of the
receiver.

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samd
They are already famous because the research they did to earn a Nobel Prize
made them famous.

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_delirium
Yeah, but that makes the award itself somewhat superfluous: giving recognition
to research that's already widely recognized.

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breadbox
Well, one of the original goals of the Fields medal was to help entice young
mathematicians to stay in academia and do research, in an attempt to
counteract the lure of high-paying jobs in the outside world.

