Subject: [HM] Query on Nobel Prize/movies
From: Peter Ross (PRoss@scu.edu)
Date: Thu Jun 01 2000 - 15:32:44 EDT
In my "Why Isn't There a Nobel Prize in Mathematics?"
(Math Horizons, November 1995, p.9) I briefly discuss the
question posed below. I also reference a more definitive
article, "Why Is There No Nobel Prize in Mathematics?" by
Lars Garding and Lars Hormander, which appeared in the
Mathematical Intelligencer (volume 7:3, 1985, pgs. 73-74).
Coincidentally, I recently came across a review of a
Swedish movie which has actors portraying Mittag-Leffler
(one of the key players in the Nobel Prize story) and
Weierstrass! It's called "A Hill on the Dark Side of the
Moon" (1983), and according to reviewer Roger Cooke is
the story of Sonya Kovalevskaya's stay in Sweden. The
review is at The Math in the Movies Page at
http://world.std.com/~reinhold/mathmovies.html
Enjoy.
Peter Ross
Santa Clara University
>>> ABARRON@prius.jnj.com 06/01/00 10:14AM >>>
Rebecca Goldstein has written a few novels about the
love woes of frustrated science types. Actually, I'm waiting
for the true (!) story of why there is no Nobel Prize for
mathematics. My recollection is that Alfred Nobel caught
his wife in an amorous situation with a mathematician
(Minkowski ?). Regardless, would make for a good tale;
or maybe even a better motion picture !
Al Barron
Metuchen, NJ
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