The bad tongues say that Alfred Nobel’s wife was unfaithful to him with a mathematician, and that for that reason he decided to ignore that discipline in his famous awards . It is a more than understandable reason to leave the math geeks without an award, but it was never confirmed.
The key is usually in the simplest thing, and leaving love issues aside, the most logical thing is that Nobel was not interested in mathematics at all, and this is proven. Nobel was a chemical engineer, invented dynamite, made weapons and also had an entrepreneurial side, which led him to amass a great fortune thanks to his many patents (he registered 350). The only numbers that mattered to him in his life were money.
With his immense fortune, he left the order in his will to reward the people who had contributed the most the previous year to certain disciplines , the ones most akin to their interests, and among them, mathematics was not found.
This award is given each year for the categories of physics, chemistry, medicine, economics, literature, and peace . The winners are chosen by a select committee made up of prestigious personalities and organizations, which after conducting an exclusive screening among hundreds of candidates also proposed by different organizations, decide who have contributed the most the previous year in each area.
These awards have been awarded since 1901, but mathematicians do not work without recognition, that is what John C. Fields took care of . The Canadian put the money so that this discipline obtained its deserved prestige. This task began in 1936 by awarding two medals , which later became four.
They are delivered every four years to coincide with international mathematics congresses, where the names of the lucky ones are announced. The only requirement that these geniuses aspiring to the award must have is to be under 40 years old on January 1 of the year of the congress . Who decides in this case who are the winners of the award is the International Union of Mathematics.
