You don’t hear a such a big ‘No’ often.
And, it came from Grigory Perelman, the mathematician, when he gave the Field Medal a big miss.The same Field Medal which is described as the Nobel Prize in Mathematics, given every four years the best brains under 40 years of age.
But how could anyone say to such a recognition to one’s life long efforts? Is genius not meant to be rewarded? Can we understand Perelman at all? Or is he pretty much like a hundred-year-old mathematical problem that only he can solve?
Often dubbed as a reclusive mathematician, Perelman might have considered it too much of a distraction and an unwanted interference in his work.
Mm…Let’s look at what he had to say after proving the Poincare conjecture, which he did not even mention to anyone.
This was a famous problem. Some people needed time to get accustomed to the fact that it was no longer a conjecture.
Sometimes, for a change, greatness chooses to be simple and unnoticed.