ABC News International reported today that Grigory Perelman, a noted Russian mathematician, had proven the Poincare Conjecture, a math theory that had stumped others for 100 years, but would probably not accept the $1 milllion prize to be offered by Clay Mathematics Institute in Cambridge, MA. Mr. Perelman was also awarded the prestigious Fields Medal, math’s Nobel Prize equivalent and highest honor, which he declined without reason. (This was the award won by the MIT prof in Good Will Hunting).The talented mathematician is 40 years old and lives in St. Petersburg, Russia.
For those who want to save time reading the full proof, Poincare’s Conjecture postures that a three dimensional donut shape with a hole can never become a sphere without tearing its surface. When asked why the theory could not be proven for 100 years, the chief math whiz at Clay said “The proof took so long because the mathematicians couldn’t resist eating the donuts. We thought with Krispy Kreme we’d never have to pay out.”
The moral of this post: See the donut, not the hole….and don’t study math because it can affect your common sense.
