Academician Alfred Nobel bequeathed all his property after his death to be transferred into liquid values and placed in a reliable bank.
Proceeds from these funds should be distributed annually in five equal parts, and paid as a reward for services to humanity in the fields of physics, chemistry, literature, medicine and the promotion of world peace.
Why aren't mathematicians given the Nobel Prize? Did the founder of the award decide that none of them would be worthy of it? Unfortunately, history cannot provide a reliable answer, supported by indisputable facts. This gave rise to conjecture.
History of the Nobel Prize
The experimenter himself earned a good fortune during his life by patenting more than 350 discoveries, including a barometer, a water meter, and a refrigerator. But he received universal fame as the father of dynamite. In 1888, Nobel read an article in a newspaper with the headline "The merchant of death died" (in fact, Alfred's brother died, but instead he was "buried"the inventor himself), and this made him think about what kind of trace he would leave behind in the memory of his descendants. The absence of children and a great love for science prompted him to a gesture of altruism. Nobel decided to encourage inventors and public figures who work for the benefit of mankind. In 1895, a foundation was founded, the funds from which were supposed to go to this good cause.
But why aren't mathematicians given the Nobel Prize? There are several suggestions.
Practical version: utility of inventions
They say Nobel wanted to highlight those areas whose achievements bring obvious benefits to humanity and satisfy urgent needs. And he apparently did not consider mathematics as such. He didn't use it to invent dynamite.
Discoveries in this area usually do not become the property of the general public, and by and large they only benefit mankind indirectly. Like, you can’t spread a new algebraic formula on bread, or a gas burner. Although such arguments seem logical only with a stretch. The question immediately arises: what about literature? Yes, it teaches morality, but its benefits are also more abstract. Somehow, all this smells suspiciously of prejudice towards the queen of sciences.
Love version: cherchez la femme
Jealousy was the culprit. Already elderly Alfred fell in love with a young Austrian Sophie Hess and took her to his place in Stockholm. They were not officially married, but he often called her "Madame Nobel." But one day behind herdecided to hit a certain Mittag-Leffler.
He was the luminary of the queen of sciences of that time, and if the Nobel Prize was awarded in this area, then it would certainly be awarded to him. Alfred could not allow himself to pay his opponent out of his own pocket, and therefore, in his hearts, he crossed out mathematicians from the list of encouraged scientists. The story is beautiful, but there is no proof.
This obviously embellished speculation about why mathematicians don't get the Nobel Prize is full of details: Mittag-Leffler decided to hit on Sophie right in front of the offended Nobel in his own theater box. Invading there without an invitation, he showered Nobel's naive companion with a bunch of compliments, without even noticing that he had stepped on his foot. Alfred, with his Scandinavian restraint, silently watched what was happening, and then asked Sophie who this insolent person was. She immediately trumped by the fact that this is a famous mathematician. And now all his colleagues are responsible for his insolence.
No matter how embellished this version, it seems that there is some grain of truth here. Even such cold-blooded minds of mankind as Alfred Nobel can be subject to feelings of jealousy and revenge. Perhaps there really was dislike for this very Mittag-Leffler for other reasons (they say he constantly begged for donations to Stockholm University), but human fantasy dragged matters of the heart into this.
Just forgot?
That would be too trite. Greatchemist, Ph. D. and academician did not suffer from sclerosis. The mathematicians themselves found a simpler explanation: Nobel did not mention this discipline, since it is the queen of sciences, and it should have been a priori in the will, he just did not voice it, and the slow-witted notary did not include it in the list. How cunning and, most importantly, not at all offensive to your loved ones.
If the founder himself wrote in his memoirs why the Nobel Prize is not given to mathematicians, then there would be no need to invent anything. And so the answer to this question is overgrown with new tales.
Alternative
Whatever the reason why mathematicians are not given the Nobel Prize, Canadian John Fields decided to correct this historical misunderstanding and established an equally prestigious award in his name just for them. The award of such a medal is tantamount to universal recognition for the overall contribution to this discipline.
In 2006, it was to be awarded to Grigory Perelman for proving the Poincaré conjecture. But he became famous as a mathematician who refused the Nobel Prize (that is, the Fields Medal, which is equivalent to it). The reason is that he considered the contribution of his American colleague Hamilton to the solution of this hypothesis no less significant, but he was not awarded this award. It is noteworthy that the principled Perelman did not take the million dollars due to him!
As you can see from this case, public recognition and reward are not always the key for pragmatic scientists. Although it still seems unfair that mathematicians are not givenNobel Prize. But I want to believe that science is above all for them, and they do not hold a grudge against the Swedish benefactor.
