Why no Nobel Prize in mathematics?

From 1901 to now, just to fall as the Nobel Prize was announced. Accordance with a will of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), then all five awards forachievements in physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, literature and world peace. From 1969 onwards, Sveriges Riksban (Imperial Bank of Sweden) alsocontribute additional funds for a Nobel Prize in economics too. But so far no one Nobel Prize for mathematics!

Why no Nobel Prize in mathematics?

Carl Friedrich Gauß (1777-1855)


Nikolai Nicolaievich Zinin (1812-1880).

This story is not true that few people had questions. But also, not quotations of ancient Greece has said, "God do the math," Why? Carl Friedrich Gauss said "Mathematicsis the queen of the sciences." It, then for a Gaussian is slightly biased ... go, butcertainly no real mathematical concept is not a science where important. There is notanyone outside the Alfred Nobel ... out! Today many researchers the Nobel Prize forbiography this is why he does not rate skeptical to mathematics in their wills. EvenNobel Prize council have long been regarded as the official reason that explains this.Considering the life of Alfred Nobel is also easy to accept this story: Nobel but agifted inventor, especially in chemistry (he has over 350 patents), but only in schooluntil age 16 and the last year only to learn from home, mainly with Russian chemistNikolai Zinin, who must have led him into this sector. Nobel does not go to collegeanywhere but work and study in factories and laboratories. Time (second half 19thcentury) people explore the chemistry a lot, but most are based on experiments thatdo not need anything to do with scientific basis. Review the invention of the Nobel, it was found he was very knowledgeable of materials, chemicals, and most intuitivesensitivity during the study, but mathematics is just applied too much power is allowedonly three . Maybe so, but he did not feel the need for a reasonable prize for mathematics?

The thrilling anecdotes



Of course, now hardly anyone can say for sure. So the parallel is still circulating many thrilling anecdotes to explain this. The anecdotes are related to Gösta Mittag-Leffler (1846-1927), Swedish mathematician famous for Nobel simultaneously. First, since the period to which the Swedish mathematician Torsten Carleman (1892-1949) mentioned when speaking of the memorial Mittag-Leffler Funeral him: during his life, Alfred Nobel may discuss the award with a mathematicians know roughly as follows:- "If I set up a prize for mathematics, would have chosen Mittag-Leffler leaders explain it?"- "I can think much."- "Then only, I will not make first prize!"
Although this is recorded in history but it is only by Carleman Carleman set out to honor their colleagues only. Because although there is a Mittag-Leffler in the great mathematicians of Sweden, but not so comparable contemporary Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) or David Hilbert, for example. That the Mittag-Leffler was alive and actively campaigned for the Nobel physics Poincaré (without success, he also lobbied for Marie Curie and Albert Einstein again, the outcome we all know). And in an anecdote by Mittag-Leffler was also mentioned that people have attractive young wife of Alfred Nobel, so he is because he deliberately eliminated mathematically in his award created. In fact, Alfred Nobel lifelong celibacy. According to the biography of Nobel (Ragnar Sohlman, The Legacy of Alfred Nobel, London, 1983, for example), the result is that he is a young Austrian girl friend (he came to less than 30 years old!) Is Sophie Hess in Wien. She is yet to be Nobel support (and later leaving a fortune) but people do not think she is the love of the Nobel, and the more there is nothing to prove that Mittag-Leffler (or a mathematical same time) is the rival.
 

Anecdotes are best known is related to a mathematician as well. That she SofjaKowalewska, Russian women in math later by Mittag-Leffler campaign became the first female professor of mathematics at the Central and Northern Europe.Accordingly, the very fans Nobel Kowalewska but - because Mittag-Leffler! - Catch the eye without her. Since then he stabbed hate all mathematicians and certainly notwhen to take up an award for this department. According to the latest research on theMittag-Leffler (of Arild Stubhaug, Springer forthcoming), then indeed, all three haveknown each other, but based on the correspondence between the Mittag-Leffler andNobel, the Nobel was not doing so in earnest financial assistance for Kowalewskaja,later also rejected him again. Nor was there any proof to say that the Mittag-Lefflerelse associated with Kowalewskaja outside the admiration of her talent. AndKowalewskaja also not the only female scientist is Mittag-Leffler support: when the council awarded the Nobel for physics for Pierre Curie (and Becquerel) in 1903 is theMittag-Leffler wrote to him, told to Reproduce the work of Marie Curie to him and payup. Meanwhile, Lars H. Hormander (a great mathematician of Sweden, the FieldsMedal in 1962 with John Milnor) said that Mittag-Leffler and Nobel not really know each other at all (Mathematical Intelligercer 7 (3) 1985).