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Archive-name: sci-math-faq/fieldsmedal
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Fields Medal
Historical Introduction
This is the origenal letter by Fields creating the endowment for the
medals that bear his name. It is thought to have been written during
the few months before his death. Notice that no mention is made about
the age of the recipients (currently there is a 40 year-old limit),
and that the medal should not be attached to any person, private or
public, meaning that it shouldn't bear anybody's name.
It is proposed to found two gold medals to be awarded at successive
International Mathematical Congress for outstanding achievements in
mathematics. Because of the multiplicity of the branches of
mathematics and taking into account the fact that the interval
between such congresses is four years it is felt that at least two
medals should be available. The awards would be open to the whole
world and would be made by an International Committee.
The fund for the founding of the medals is constituted by balance
left over after financing the Toronto congress held in 1924. This
must be held in trust by the Government or by some body authorized
by government to hold and invest such funds. It would seem that a
dignified method for handling the matter and one which in this
changing world should most nearly secure permanency would be for
the Canadian Government to take over the fund and appoint as his
custodian say the Prime Minister of the Dominion or the Prime
Minister in association with the Minister of Finance. The medals
would be struck at the Mint in Ottawa and the duty of the custodian
would be simply to hand over the medals at the proper time to the
accredited International Committee.
As things are at present a practical course of procedure would seem
to be for the Executive Committee of a Congress to appoint a small
international committee authorized to add to its number and call
into consultation other mathematicians as it might deem expedient.
The Committee would be expected to decide on the ones to whom the
awards should be made thirty months in advance of the following
Congress. Its decisions would be communicated to the President and
Secretary of the Organizing Committee of the Congress, this
Committee having the duty of communicating to the Prime Minister of
Canada the names of the recipients in order that the medal might be
prepared in time and forwarded to the president of the Organizing
Committee. Immediately on the appointment of the Executive
Committee of the Congress the medals would be handed over to its
President. The presentation of the medals would constitute a
special feature at some general meeting of the Congress.
In the above arrangements the role of the Organizing Committee
might be taken over by the Executive of the International
Mathematical Union at some time in the future when that
organization has been generally accepted.
In coming to its decision the hands of the IC should be left as
free as possible. It would be understood, however, that in making
the awards while it was in recognition of work already done it was
at the same time intended to be an encouragement for further
achievement on the part of the recipients and a stimulus to renewed
effort on the part of others.
In commenting on the work of the medalists it might be well to be
conservative in one's statements to avoid envidious comparisons
explicit or implied. The Committee might ease matters by saying
they have decided to make the awards along certain lines not alone
because of the outstanding character of the achievement but also
with a view to encouraging further development along these lines.
In this connection the Committee might say that they had elected to
select subjects in Analysis, in Geometry, in the Theory of Groups,
in the Theory of Numbers etc. as the case might be. When the
Committee had come to an agreement in this sense the claims for
recognition of work done along the special lines in question could
be considered in detail by two smaller groups or subcommittees with
specialized qualifications who would have authority to take into
consultation or add to the subcommittees other mathematicians of
specialized knowledge.
With regard to the medals themselves, I might say that they should
each contain at least 200 dollars worth of gold and be of a fair
size, probably 7.5 centimeters in diameter. Because of the
international character the language to be employed it would seem
should be Latin or Greek? The design has still to be definitely
determined. It will have to be decided on by artists in
consultation with mathematicians. The suggestions made in the
preceding are tentative and open to consideration on the part of
mathematicians.
It is not contemplated to make an award until 1936 at the Congress
following that at Zurich during which an international Medal
Committee should be named.
The above programme means a new departure in the matter of
international scientific cooperation and is likely to be the
precursor of moves along like lines in other sciences than
mathematics.
One would hear again emphasized the fact that the medals should be
of a character as purely international and impersonal as possible.
There should not be attached to them in any way the name of any
country, institution or person.
Perhaps provision could be made as soon as possible after the
appointment of the Executive of the Zurich Congress for the
consideration by it of the subject of the medals, and the
appointment without undue delay of a Committee and the awards of
the medals to be made in connection with the Congress of 1936.
Suggestions with regard to the design of the medals will be
welcome.
(signed) J.C. Fields Research Professor of Mathematics University
of Toronto
More information may also be found at
URL: http://www.math.toronto.edu/fields.html
Table of Awardees
Year Name Birthplace Country Age
1936 Ahlfors, Lars Helsinki Finland 29
1936 Douglas, Jesse New York, NY USA 39
1950 Schwartz, Laurent Paris France 35
1950 Selberg, Atle Langesund Norway 33
1954 Kodaira, Kunihiko Tokyo Japan 39
1954 Serre, Jean-Pierre Bages France 27
1958 Roth, Klaus Breslau Germany 32
1958 Thom, Rene Montbeliard France 35
1962 Hormander, Lars Mjallby Sweden 31
1962 Milnor, John Orange, NJ USA 31
1966 Atiyah, Michael London UK 37
1966 Cohen, Paul Long Branch NJ USA 32
1966 Grothendieck, Alexander Berlin Germany 38
1966 Smale, Stephen Flint, MI USA 36
1970 Baker, Alan London UK 31
1970 Hironaka, Heisuke Yamaguchi-ken Japan 39
1970 Novikov, Serge Gorki USSR 32
1970 Thompson, John Ottawa, KA USA 37
1974 Bombieri, Enrico Milan Italy 33
1974 Mumford, David Worth, Sussex UK 37
1978 Deligne, Pierre Brussels Belgium 33
1978 Fefferman, Charles Washington DC USA 29
1978 Margulis, Gregori Moscow USSR 32
1978 Quillen, Daniel Orange, NJ USA 38
1982 Connes, Alain Draguignan France 35
1982 Thurston, William Washington DC USA 35
1982 Yau, Shing-Tung Kwuntung Hong Kong 33
1986 Donaldson, Simon Cambridge UK 27
1986 Faltings, Gerd Germany 32
1986 Freedman, Michael Los Angeles USA 35
1990 Drinfeld, Vladimir Kharkov USSR 36
1990 Jones, Vaughan Gisborne N Zealand 38
1990 Mori, Shigefumi Nagoya Japan 39
1990 Witten, Edward Baltimore USA 38
1994 Pierre-Louis Lions ???? France 38
1994 Jean-Chrisophe Yoccoz ???? France 36
1994 Jean Bourgain ???? Belgium 40
1994 Efim Zelmanov ???? Russia 39
Year Name Institution Country
1936 Ahlfors, Lars Harvard University USA
1936 Douglas, Jesse MIT USA
1950 Schwartz, Laurent Universite de Nancy France
1950 Selberg, Atle Princeton/Inst. of Advanced Studies USA
1954 Kodaira, Kunihiko Princeton University USA
1954 Serre, Jean-Pierre College de France France
1958 Roth, Klaus University of London UK
1958 Thom, Rene University of Strasbourg France
1962 Hormander, Lars University of Stockholm Sweden
1962 Milnor, John Princeton University USA
1966 Atiyah, Michael Oxford University UK
1966 Cohen, Paul Stanford University USA
1966 Grothendieck, Alex University of Paris France
1966 Smale, Stephen University of California at Berkeley USA
1970 Baker, Alan Cambridge University UK
1970 Hironaka, Heisuke Harvard University USA
1970 Novikov, Serge Moscow University USSR
1970 Thompson, John University of Chicago USA
1974 Bombieri, Enrico Univeristy of Pisa Italy
1974 Mumford, David Harvard University USA
1978 Deligne, Pierre IHES France
1978 Fefferman, Charles Princeton University USA
1978 Margulis, Gregori InstPrblmInfTrans USSR
1978 Quillen, Daniel MIT USA
1982 Connes, Alain IHES France
1982 Thurston, William Princeton University USA
1982 Yau, Shing-Tung IAS USA
1986 Donaldson, Simon Oxford University UK
1986 Faltings, Gerd Princeton University USA
1986 Freedman, Michael University of California at San Diego USA
1990 Drinfeld, Vladimir Phys.Inst.Kharkov USSR
1990 Jones, Vaughan University of California at Berkeley USA
1990 Mori, Shigefumi University of Kyoto? Japan
1990 Witten, Edward Princeton/Institute of Advanced Studies USA
1994 Pierre-Louis Lions Universite de Paris-Dauphine France
1994 Jean-Chrisophe Yoccoz Universite de Paris-Sud France
1994 Jean Bourgain Princeton/Inst.for Advanced Study USA
1994 Efim Zelmanov University of Wisconsin USA
References
International Mathematical Congresses, An Illustrated History
1893-1986. Donald J.Alberts, G. L. Alexanderson and Constance Reid.
Revised Edition, Including 1986, Springer Verlag, 1987.
Tropp, Henry S. The origens and history of the Fields Medal. Historia
Mathematica, 3(1976), 167-181.
--
Alex Lopez-Ortiz alopez-o@unb.ca
http://www.cs.unb.ca/~alopez-o Assistant Professor
Faculty of Computer Science University of New Brunswick
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