Masha Gessen talks about Perfect Rigour – published tomorrow

Posted on 2011/03/02 , tagged as

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In 2006, an eccentric Russian mathematician named Grigori Perelman was confirmed to have solved one of the world’s greatest intellectual puzzles.

The Poincaré conjecture is an extremely complex topological problem that had eluded the best minds for over a century. In 2000, the Clay Institute in Boston named it one of seven great unsolved mathematical problems, and promised a million dollars to anyone who could find a solution.

Perelman posted his answer online in 2002. Once it was proved correct in 2006 he was awarded the Fields Medal, the mathematical world’s greatest honour, and he received lucrative job offers from the world’s finest universities. The Clay Institute’s million-dollar prize followed in 2010. He declined them all.

Masha Gessen was determined to find out why.

Drawing on interviews with Perelman’s teachers, classmates, coaches, teammates and colleagues in Russia and the US – and informed by her own background as a maths whiz raised in Russia – she set out to uncover the nature of Perelman’s astonishing abilities.

In telling his story, Masha Gessen has constructed a gripping and tragic tale that sheds rare light on the unique burden of genius.

Perfect Rigour is published by Icon Books tomorrow – see more about it here.