Iranian is first woman to win 'Nobel Prize of maths'

[webfact]

Iranian is first woman to win 'Nobel Prize of maths'

SEOUL - An Iranian-born mathematician has become the first woman to win a prestigious Fields Medal, widely viewed as the Nobel Prize of mathematics.

Maryam Mirzakhani, a Harvard-educated mathematician and professor at Stanford University in California, was one of four winners announced by the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) at its conference in Seoul on Wednesday.

An expert in the geometry of unusual forms, she crafted novel ways to calculate the volumes of oddly-shaped curved surfaces.

"Fluent in a remarkably diverse range of mathematical techniques and disparate mathematical cultures, she embodies a rare combination of superb technical ability, bold ambition, far-reaching vision, and deep curiosity," the ICM said in a statement.

Mirzakhani was born in Tehran in 1977 and earned her PhD in 2004 from Harvard University.

She has previously won the 2009 Blumenthal Award for the Advancement of Research in Pure Mathematics and the 2013 Satter Prize of the American Mathematical Society.

The Fields Medal is given out every four years, often to multiple winners who should not be over 40 years of age.

The other three winners this year were Artur Avila of France, Manjul Bhargava of Princeton University in New Jersey, and Martin Hairer of the University of Warwick in Britain.

With no Nobel prize given for mathematics, the Fields Medal is regarded as the top global award for the discipline.

The medals were given out by South Korea’s first woman president, Park Geun-Hye.

"I congratulate all the winners, with special applause for Maryam Mirzakhani, whose drive and passion have made her the first woman to win a Fields Medal," Park said.

Prior to Wednesday’s ceremony, all 52 previous recipients had been men.

"This is a great honour. I will be happy if it encourages young female scientists and mathematicians," Mirzakhani said in a press release from Stanford University.

"I am sure there will be many more women winning this kind of award in coming years," she added.
AFP

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Iranian-is-first-woman-to-win-Nobel-Prize-of-maths-30240817.html


-- The Nation 2014-08-13

[submaniac]

nice to see a news story with the word "Iranian" not followed by "developing nuclear". So good for her.

I do think the title is also inappropriate. She may have been born in Iran, but if she chooses to adopt the United States as her own country, I think she should be considered American.

[Credo]

No,no. She is working on the speed and trajectory of the missile.

In all seriousness, congratulations to her and to the Iranian people for continuing to strive toward excellence in academia.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Credo

[chotthee]

I am sure most Thai student can beat her any day memorizing mathematical formula for national exams.

[Suradit69]

...ways to calculate the volumes of oddly-shaped curved surfaces.

Surfaces have volumes? Possibly the volumes of solids or 3-dimensional figures with oddly shaped curved surfaces or the areas of oddly-shaped curved surfaces.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Suradit69

[Suradit69]

I am sure most Thai student can beat her any day memorizing mathematical formula for national exams.

She isn't a student (in the usual sense), she's a professor and I suggest you look at a catalogue of graduate theses in maths and science subjects authored by Thai students & teaching staff or articles published in international peer-reviewed journals before making your condescending comments.

[timmyp]

Sorry to sound dumb, but I don't thing there is a Nobel Prize for mathematics??? When did it start?

There's the "Fields Medal", but I think Alfred Nobel left out math on his list of prizes....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal

[Seastallion]

Sorry to sound dumb, but I don't thing there is a Nobel Prize for mathematics??? When did it start?

There's the "Fields Medal", but I think Alfred Nobel left out math on his list of prizes....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal

Sorry, but you do...just a bit.

" the first woman to win a prestigious Fields Medal, widely viewed as the Nobel Prize of mathematics."

Plus the inverted commas around "Nobel Prize" in the title....says it all. really.

[Suradit69]

Sorry to sound dumb, but I don't thing there is a Nobel Prize for mathematics??? When did it start?

There's the "Fields Medal", but I think Alfred Nobel left out math on his list of prizes....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal

It did say the 'Nobel Prize of Maths' not the Nobel Prize in Maths.

The first line of the article states: "the first woman to win a prestigious Fields Medal, widely viewed as the Nobel Prize of mathematics."

I agree the headline was misleading, but it was explained at the start of the carelessly crafted "story."

Edited August 13, 2014 by Suradit69

[squarethecircle]

...ways to calculate the volumes of oddly-shaped curved surfaces.

Surfaces have volumes? Possibly the volumes of solids or 3-dimensional figures with oddly shaped curved surfaces or the areas of oddly-shaped curved surfaces.

I think in theoretical mathematics they use "volume" to describe both the "surface area" and the "volume". So for a sphere in 3-dimensions, the surface area would be called the "2-dimensional volume" and the volume would be called the "3-dimensional volume" of the sphere.

[timmyp]

Sorry to sound dumb, but I don't thing there is a Nobel Prize for mathematics??? When did it start?

There's the "Fields Medal", but I think Alfred Nobel left out math on his list of prizes....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal

It did say the 'Nobel Prize of Maths' not the Nobel Prize in Maths.

The first line of the article states: "the first woman to win a prestigious Fields Medal, widely viewed as the Nobel Prize of mathematics."

I agree the headline was misleading, but it was explained at the start of the carelessly crafted "story."

Ha! You're totally right, and I am a moron for reading too fast and still thinking I should make a comment.

[timmyp]

Sorry to sound dumb, but I don't thing there is a Nobel Prize for mathematics??? When did it start?

There's the "Fields Medal", but I think Alfred Nobel left out math on his list of prizes....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal

Sorry, but you do...just a bit.

" the first woman to win a prestigious Fields Medal, widely viewed as the Nobel Prize of mathematics."

Plus the inverted commas around "Nobel Prize" in the title....says it all. really.

Oh, i think I'll be getting a few messages pointing out my dumbnessisty. Sorry about that, and thanks for the correction--

[Nobleman1]

All of her advanced education and work history is American. She is not iranian. She probably left iran around 1979 with all the other iranians to america

[Scott]

Off-topic, inflammatory posts and replies deleted.

[CBR250]

All of her advanced education and work history is American. She is not iranian. She probably left iran around 1979 with all the other iranians to america

Typical Yanks. Always stealing the brains and then claiming credit as if it is a result of the genetic pool and education systems of North America. Were Wernher von Braun and the other 126 German scientists who kick started NASA also "Americans"? I won't even mention Albert Einstein. See? I didn't mention him.

But claiming credit for the mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani for the USA is a lot cheekier. This young genius completed all of her study up to Doctorate level in Tehran, Iran. This is not surprising, of course. Modern mathematics only exists because of the contributions of Iran (formerly Persia). The Islamic Empire of the 8th century AD gave us algebra and quadratic equations; subsequent years contributed mathematical induction and binomial theorum; algebraic calculus; the discovery of all trigonometric functions other than sine; analytic geometry; the use of decimal points, etc etc etc. Ancient mathematical texts from the Greeks and Hindus were translated by Persians for use in learning.

Arabs of whom we have never heard developed what enabled those 20th C American-Germans listed above to design rockets! People such as Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (equations in the 800 AD), Al-Karaji (integers, 1000 AD). There are many other famous and influential Persian mathematicians, including Ibn al-Haytham, Nasir al-Din Tusi, Ghiyath al-Kash. (All of these can be found in Wikipedia, BTW).

While their genius is undeniable, and has changed the world, most of us from an ethno-centric western cultural inheritance have never heard of them. Perhaps the only one that many do know is Omar Khayyam, the Iranian Leonardo. Omar Khayyam is the famous poet of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, yet also developed modern geometric algebra and binomial theorem. In between, he also developed a Calendar that is still more accurate than the Gregorian one which we use today. As an Astronomer, he proposed that the earth rotated on an axis and circled the sun. This is about 500 years before Galileo, mind. Oh, and on the side he taught medicine. Not a bad output for a bunch of Arabs from Iran (or Persia in the old days).

So, America of course deserves credit for taking "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", many of whom were bona fide geniuses (genii?). The US was smart enough to offer wonderful learning opportunities and so attract and keep some of the best scholars from around the world. But a lot of credit goes to Olde Worlde, Arabic and Asian genetics and education - the products of which were imported to the US.

Now, just don't get me started on the athletic superiority of the USA.......

PS I am not Iranian nor of Persian provenance. I have no involvement nor investments in Iran or any related country. Nor I do not expect to receive any gratuities as a result of gently pointing out that Arabs are not necessarily baby-eating terrorists - nor are they a primitive people who only survive because of the oil that flows from their sands.

Edited August 13, 2014 by CBR250

[squarethecircle]

Well good points about Iran/Persia and how the prize winner being Iranian-American is a result of US immigration policy of welcoming talents from other countries, but you should note that Persians/Iranians are not Arabs. In fact they had an enlightened leader who preached democratic ideals 500 years before Christ, namely Cyrus the Great, all this while the Arabs were still (and in fact still are) run by barbarian tribalism. That all changed when Arab Muslims invaded in the 7th century, murdered off the indigenous religions (such as Sufis and Zoroastrians) and installed a theocratic state which has continued in various forms to this day. A key reason why the best talents of Iran have mostly fled abroad. Also I noticed that the drones flaunted in Iranian media were copied off of US designs from a US drone shot down, much like how China has to copy foreign designs because it has scared off most of its innovators and talents to foreign countries, such as US.

[dr_lucas]

All of her advanced education and work history is American. She is not iranian. She probably left iran around 1979 with all the other iranians to america

Typical Yanks. Always stealing the brains and then claiming credit as if it is a result of the genetic pool and education systems of North America. Were Wernher von Braun and the other 126 German scientists who kick started NASA also "Americans"? I won't even mention Albert Einstein. See? I didn't mention him.

But claiming credit for the mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani for the USA is a lot cheekier. This young genius completed all of her study up to Doctorate level in Tehran, Iran. This is not surprising, of course. Modern mathematics only exists because of the contributions of Iran (formerly Persia). The Islamic Empire of the 8th century AD gave us algebra and quadratic equations; subsequent years contributed mathematical induction and binomial theorum; algebraic calculus; the discovery of all trigonometric functions other than sine; analytic geometry; the use of decimal points, etc etc etc. Ancient mathematical texts from the Greeks and Hindus were translated by Persians for use in learning.

Arabs of whom we have never heard developed what enabled those 20th C American-Germans listed above to design rockets! People such as Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (equations in the 800 AD), Al-Karaji (integers, 1000 AD). There are many other famous and influential Persian mathematicians, including Ibn al-Haytham, Nasir al-Din Tusi, Ghiyath al-Kash. (All of these can be found in Wikipedia, BTW).

While their genius is undeniable, and has changed the world, most of us from an ethno-centric western cultural inheritance have never heard of them. Perhaps the only one that many do know is Omar Khayyam, the Iranian Leonardo. Omar Khayyam is the famous poet of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, yet also developed modern geometric algebra and binomial theorem. In between, he also developed a Calendar that is still more accurate than the Gregorian one which we use today. As an Astronomer, he proposed that the earth rotated on an axis and circled the sun. This is about 500 years before Galileo, mind. Oh, and on the side he taught medicine. Not a bad output for a bunch of Arabs from Iran (or Persia in the old days).

So, America of course deserves credit for taking "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", many of whom were bona fide geniuses (genii?). The US was smart enough to offer wonderful learning opportunities and so attract and keep some of the best scholars from around the world. But a lot of credit goes to Olde Worlde, Arabic and Asian genetics and education - the products of which were imported to the US.

Now, just don't get me started on the athletic superiority of the USA.......

PS I am not Iranian nor of Persian provenance. I have no involvement nor investments in Iran or any related country. Nor I do not expect to receive any gratuities as a result of gently pointing out that Arabs are not necessarily baby-eating terrorists - nor are they a primitive people who only survive because of the oil that flows from their sands.

A few small corrections, addendum & notes:

- Persians/Iranians are not Arabs, many of them may get seriously offended if you call them Arabs.

- Maryam Mirzakhani does owe some of her fame to her early education in Iran, where she finished her Bs.C, but her advanced education (PhD.) and her research were done at Harvard where she got famous, as it's quite likely it may not have been possible if she stayed in Iran and continue her education there, for many reasons. (Same reasons attracting many other great minds to complete their advanced education in places like Harvard).

- She did not leave Iran in 1979, as Nobleman1 suggested, she left around 1999.

- She is, without a doubt, a brilliant female coming from the Iranian genetic pool.

- While there were and are, obviously and without a doubt, some very bright & influential Arab/Persian minds in the long history of the region, compared to the size of the population and the length of its history - the numbers/percents are extremely poor. Possibly the lowest ratio in the world.

- The same goes to the very low number of scientific noble prizes the region has received so far, especially low ratio when taking into account its' very large population.

- Since you touched the "baby-eating terrorist" angle, the region did and still does produce the highest number (in the written history of mankind) of fundamental terrorists, fundamental terror organizations, terror attacks etc.

- And the obvious: Columbus only discovered America in the 16th century, while the USA was formed only in the 18th century, and it's a land of immigrants (not counting the minority of native Americans), so the genetic pool came from all over the world anyway.

Other than that, I am personally very happy with her research & great contribution to mankind, a well deserved nobel prize! Congratulations!

Edited August 13, 2014 by dr_lucas

[CBR250]

Well good points about Iran/Persia and how the prize winner being Iranian-American is a result of US immigration policy of welcoming talents from other countries, but you should note that Persians/Iranians are not Arabs. In fact they had an enlightened leader who preached democratic ideals 500 years before Christ, namely Cyrus the Great, all this while the Arabs were still (and in fact still are) run by barbarian tribalism. That all changed when Arab Muslims invaded in the 7th century, murdered off the indigenous religions (such as Sufis and Zoroastrians) and installed a theocratic state which has continued in various forms to this day. A key reason why the best talents of Iran have mostly fled abroad. Also I noticed that the drones flaunted in Iranian media were copied off of US designs from a US drone shot down, much like how China has to copy foreign designs because it has scared off most of its innovators and talents to foreign countries, such as US.

OK. There is a lot of dispute about the genetic makeup of Iranians, due to its location on trade routes between Europe, the Middle East and Asia. However, let's stick with the timeline you suggested. That is: "Arab Muslims invaded in the 7th century".

So then, the mathematical whiz-kids I wrote of must be Arabs. The manifestation of mathematical genius in Iran occurred from the 8th century onwards. Certainly these scholars were Muslims, and one would imagine that there would have been a fair bit of interbreeding amongst different genetic groups in Iran, as they shared the common religion of Islam.

And I am not aware that Professor Maryam Mirzakhani - the subject of this thread - "fled abroad". Perhaps you can refer me to the source where you found this fact. There is no mention of that in her bio. European news refers to her as "Iranian", not American. Her nationality in Wiki is listed as "Iranian". She chose the benefits of a prestigious US University as a workplace. Doesn't make her a yank. I assume you live in Thailand - does that make you Thai?

As to drones and China - don't know why you brought this up. No logical connection to a brilliant Iranian mathematician that I can see.

[zydeco]

So, nobody over 40 is eligible for this award. This ought to make all those digital nomads in Thailand happy. Finally, something they're eligible for that the retirement visa crowd isn't.

[CBR250]

All of her advanced education and work history is American. She is not iranian. She probably left iran around 1979 with all the other iranians to america

Typical Yanks. Always stealing the brains and then claiming credit as if it is a result of the genetic pool and education systems of North America. Were Wernher von Braun and the other 126 German scientists who kick started NASA also "Americans"? I won't even mention Albert Einstein. See? I didn't mention him.

But claiming credit for the mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani for the USA is a lot cheekier. This young genius completed all of her study up to Doctorate level in Tehran, Iran. This is not surprising, of course. Modern mathematics only exists because of the contributions of Iran (formerly Persia). The Islamic Empire of the 8th century AD gave us algebra and quadratic equations; subsequent years contributed mathematical induction and binomial theorum; algebraic calculus; the discovery of all trigonometric functions other than sine; analytic geometry; the use of decimal points, etc etc etc. Ancient mathematical texts from the Greeks and Hindus were translated by Persians for use in learning.

Arabs of whom we have never heard developed what enabled those 20th C American-Germans listed above to design rockets! People such as Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (equations in the 800 AD), Al-Karaji (integers, 1000 AD). There are many other famous and influential Persian mathematicians, including Ibn al-Haytham, Nasir al-Din Tusi, Ghiyath al-Kash. (All of these can be found in Wikipedia, BTW).

While their genius is undeniable, and has changed the world, most of us from an ethno-centric western cultural inheritance have never heard of them. Perhaps the only one that many do know is Omar Khayyam, the Iranian Leonardo. Omar Khayyam is the famous poet of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, yet also developed modern geometric algebra and binomial theorem. In between, he also developed a Calendar that is still more accurate than the Gregorian one which we use today. As an Astronomer, he proposed that the earth rotated on an axis and circled the sun. This is about 500 years before Galileo, mind. Oh, and on the side he taught medicine. Not a bad output for a bunch of Arabs from Iran (or Persia in the old days).

So, America of course deserves credit for taking "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", many of whom were bona fide geniuses (genii?). The US was smart enough to offer wonderful learning opportunities and so attract and keep some of the best scholars from around the world. But a lot of credit goes to Olde Worlde, Arabic and Asian genetics and education - the products of which were imported to the US.

Now, just don't get me started on the athletic superiority of the USA.......

PS I am not Iranian nor of Persian provenance. I have no involvement nor investments in Iran or any related country. Nor I do not expect to receive any gratuities as a result of gently pointing out that Arabs are not necessarily baby-eating terrorists - nor are they a primitive people who only survive because of the oil that flows from their sands.

A few small corrections, addendum & notes:

- Persians/Iranians are not Arabs, many of them may get seriously offended if you call them Arabs.

- Maryam Mirzakhani does owe some of her fame to her early education in Iran, where she finished her Bs.C, but her advanced education (PhD.) and her research were done at Harvard where she got famous, as it's quite likely it may not have been possible if she stayed in Iran and continue her education there, for many reasons. (Same reasons attracting many other great minds to complete their advanced education in places like Harvard).

- She did not leave Iran in 1979, as Nobleman1 suggested, she left around 1999.

- She is, without a doubt, a brilliant female coming from the Iranian genetic pool.

- While there were and are, obviously and without a doubt, some very bright & influential Arab/Persian minds in the long history of the region, compared to the size of the population and the length of its history - the numbers/percents are extremely poor. Possibly the lowest ratio in the world.

- The same goes to the very low number of scientific noble prizes the region has received so far, especially low ratio when taking into account its' very large population.

- Since you touched the "baby-eating terrorist" angle, the region did and still does produce the highest number (in the written history of mankind) of fundamental terrorists, fundamental terror organizations, terror attacks etc.

- And the obvious: Columbus only discovered America in the 16th century, while the USA was formed only in the 18th century, and it's a land of immigrants (not counting the minority of native Americans), so the genetic pool came from all over the world anyway.

Other than that, I am personally very happy with her research & great contribution to mankind, a well deserved nobel prize! Congratulations!

See my reply (above) to that eminent mathematician "squarethecircle" re. questions of genetics - Arab and otherwise.

I can only guess as to why you are so grudging in acknowledging her talents were manifested when she lived in Iran. She won international recognition at two very respected mathematical tournaments long before she went to the US. Face facts - you and I would not be communicating by computer today without the magnificent achievements of early Iranians (see, for your peace of mind, not Arabs, Iranians. And Muslims, of course).

From your statements I must conclude that you are a particularly adept mathematician yourself. I would love to see the equations you used to conclude "compared to the size of the population and the length of its history - the numbers/percents are extremely poor. Possibly the lowest ratio in the world." (I assume you are referring to intellectual achievements, although it isn't very clear in your post). Most historians would give you short shrift, BTW. Not just mathematics, but much of modern astronomy, medicine and architecture developed in the Arab (and related countries) world. Still, I look forward to seeing your figures.

Your other mathematical claim needs a bit of evidence as well. You claim: "the region did and still does produce the highest number (in the written history of mankind) of fundamental terrorists, fundamental terror organizations, terror attacks etc."

I am baffled how you arrived at this conclusion. What data, regions and epochs did you use to arrive at this conclusion? How did you define region? When does "written history" start - with the Sumerians? A number of other possibilities for this dubious honor immediately spring to my mind - not that I have the numbers at hand that you obviously must have had to conclude so forcefully. But I would like to know - did you include South Africa under apartheid (1948-1992)? The partition of India in1947? The Rwandan genocide of 1994 (add in a few of the earlier genocides in this region, and there is probably a total of over 2 million dead)? Do you know we live next door to Pol Pot's old stamping grounds? What about Mao Tse Tsung and the cultural revolution - does that count as a part of Asia and get added to Cambodia? Sri Lanka and the Tamils? What about the bombing of Vietnam by the USA - many would see that as state terrorism. And do we ignore the Slavs in Bosnia, Serbia and now the Ukraine in eastern Europe? Did Stalin spring to mind? The Bolsheviks of 1917? Latin America under the various American puppet regimes from the 1950s through to the present day? If you haven't at least considered these - even if you then rejected them subsequently as a result of your sophisticated mathematical modelling, I can only ask you to develop more comprehensive modelling techniques. I don't mind the odd dispute, as you have probably gathered by now. But I will not continue to engage with half baked nonsensical assertions that have no basis in reality. Evidence, please, or keep it to yourself.

And your negativity about Professor Mirzakhani's origins wouldn't by any chance be a result of a particular ethnic and religious bias, would it? Just guessing here.

PS She didn't win a Nobel prize. She won the Fields Medal. Glad you are happy for her achievement, even if you didn't know what she had achieved.

[sustento]

PS I am not Iranian nor of Persian provenance. I have no involvement nor investments in Iran or any related country. Nor I do not expect to receive any gratuities as a result of gently pointing out that Arabs are not necessarily baby-eating terrorists

Although you might get a kick up the arse for calling Persians Arabs...

[CBR250]

PS I am not Iranian nor of Persian provenance. I have no involvement nor investments in Iran or any related country. Nor I do not expect to receive any gratuities as a result of gently pointing out that Arabs are not necessarily baby-eating terrorists

Although you might get a kick up the arse for calling Persians Arabs...

Thanks. Yes, that has already been brought to my attention. I appreciate the reminder, and acknowledge that the genetic inheritance in the region is rather convoluted. But another question - is "Persian" acceptable in modern Iran? Did that term lose popularity along with the old Shah?

The importance of the point, anyway, is that most of the people living there are Muslims with a long a distinguished record of intellectual achievements that would put most countries to shame.

[sustento]

PS I am not Iranian nor of Persian provenance. I have no involvement nor investments in Iran or any related country. Nor I do not expect to receive any gratuities as a result of gently pointing out that Arabs are not necessarily baby-eating terrorists

Although you might get a kick up the arse for calling Persians Arabs...

Thanks. Yes, that has already been brought to my attention. I appreciate the reminder, and acknowledge that the genetic inheritance in the region is rather convoluted. But another question - is "Persian" acceptable in modern Iran? Did that term lose popularity along with the old Shah?

The importance of the point, anyway, is that most of the people living there are Muslims with a long a distinguished record of intellectual achievements that would put most countries to shame.

When I was there in the 70s they were quite proud of their Persian history but I'm afraid you're not allowed to point out all their achievements because they're Muslim. Neither are you allowed to mention the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.

[Johpa]

The woman is clearly brilliant beyond measure and attractive to boot. But honestly, even after consulting The Google, the all knowing and all seeing modern deity, I still don't have the foggiest notion what her research is about.

"“Her thesis showed how to compute the Weil-Petersson volumes of moduli spaces of bordered Riemann surfaces. Her research interests include Teichmüller theory, hyperbolic geometry, ergodic theory, and symplectic geometry.”

Give me Euclid or give me a beer.

[squarethecircle]

"And your negativity about Professor Mirzakhani's origins wouldn't by any chance be a result of a particular ethnic and religious bias, would it? Just guessing here."

Pulling the "bias card". There should be a new law like Godwin's Law that when anyone accuses another person of harboring racism/biases without immediate and direct proof, the conversation comes to a close as the accuser has crossed the line. And I have no clue which fundamental discoveries out of that region made the computer possible. There was a renaissance at the time but that ended 1000 years ago, and the region has been in the Dark Ages ever since (they've invested far more many in hate-preaching "temples" than in scientific progress, for example). It's no wonder their best minds choose to leave ("flee") to climes warmer to free thought and intellectual exploration.

[CBR250]

"And your negativity about Professor Mirzakhani's origins wouldn't by any chance be a result of a particular ethnic and religious bias, would it? Just guessing here."

Pulling the "bias card". There should be a new law like Godwin's Law that when anyone accuses another person of harboring racism/biases without immediate and direct proof, the conversation comes to a close as the accuser has crossed the line. And I have no clue which fundamental discoveries out of that region made the computer possible. There was a renaissance at the time but that ended 1000 years ago, and the region has been in the Dark Ages ever since (they've invested far more many in hate-preaching "temples" than in scientific progress, for example). It's no wonder their best minds choose to leave ("flee") to climes warmer to free thought and intellectual exploration.

It seems that I know dr-lucas far better than you. There are dozens of his posts that would be sufficient proof that he harbors certain biases (he would probably argue that his biases are totally justified, but that's another story). No lines crossed. I am not going to waste my time on your behalf, but if you want to ascertain his biases you will easily find numerous posts by him in threads on Gaza and Israel.

Mathematics made the modern computer possible. I am not a mathematician, so cannot explain in detail. But I do know that binary numbers (0 and 1) are central to computer coding. The notion of "zero" is believed to have originated in India, although it's use was codified in 9th century Persia. It was introduced from there to western civilisations in about the 12th century. So, our mathematical expertise which gives rise to computers today is a result of the genius of Indians and Muslim scholars.

And I see you have a mathematical bent, and claim to know the exact amounts spent on "hate preaching" temples as opposed to scientific endeavours. Pity you didn't share the figures with us, as it leaves a suspicion that you may just be making that up.

So Professor Mizakhani "fled" did she? Perhaps she did, I have seen no evidence one way or the other. You, on the other hand, obviously have. So there's another piece of evidence that you might care to share with us.

Edited August 13, 2014 by CBR250

[techboy]

I am sure most Thai student can beat her any day memorizing mathematical formula for national exams.

She isn't a student (in the usual sense), she's a professor and I suggest you look at a catalogue of graduate theses in maths and science subjects authored by Thai students & teaching staff or articles published in international peer-reviewed journals before making your condescending comments.

You want 'em to check his info before making condescending cracks? Good luck on that count!

[squarethecircle]

"So, our mathematical expertise which gives rise to computers today is a result of the genius of Indians and Muslim scholars."

Well (speaking as a hobbyist mathematician) it is true that the concept of 0 (and 1) was an indispensable step on the way towards computers. But it's not like this lead directly to the computer. People like Charles Babbage, James Maxwell, John von Neumann and of course Alan Turing were in fact indispensable, but nothing that has taken place in the past 1000 years anywhere near the ME has had anything to do with the creation of the computer. In fact quite the opposite, the Muslim Arabs conquered much of N. Africa and turned it backwards, and as Winston Churchill said, the only thing that saved Europe from colonization/domination was its status as the world's scientific centre. Even reasonable Muslim scholars like Muhammad Aziz admit there is 0 critical thinking or anything worth describing as "education" going on in supposedly top Muslim universities like Al-Azhar in Egypt. Call me "racist" but facts are facts.

Also see here for more hard evidence in favor of what the supposedly biased poster is saying. Again not totally relevant as the OP is about an IRANIAN/PERSIAN not an Arab, but there are parallels in Iran, hence why their finest minds head to secular countries like USA, not the other way around:

http://www.cornell.edu/video/muawia-barazangi-oil-wealth-declining-science-in-arab-world

"There is no Arab Spring, nor has there been for decades, argued Professor Emeritus Muawia Barazangi in a Sept. 12, 2013 lecture presented by the Cornell Association of Professors Emeriti (CAPE).

Barazangi discussed what he believes is the ongoing decline of science, technology and human development in the Arab region despite tremendous wealth from oil and gas reserves."

[Richard W]

Mathematics made the modern computer possible. I am not a mathematician, so cannot explain in detail. But I do know that binary numbers (0 and 1) are central to computer coding. The notion of "zero" is believed to have originated in India, although it's use was codified in 9th century Persia. It was introduced from there to western civilisations in about the 12th century. So, our mathematical expertise which gives rise to computers today is a result of the genius of Indians and Muslim scholars.

The first mechanical and electronic computers used decimal numbers, not binary numbers.

[squarethecircle]

"The first mechanical and electronic computers used decimal numbers, not binary numbers."

Concept of Turing Machine is based in binary system and foreshadowed the actual first computer, no?