Winning the Fields Medal (with James Maynard) - Numberphile

[@andresfontalvo17]

Imagine having your first kid and being awarded a Fields medal on the same week. What a week!

[@verity3616]

He phrased this so oddly, "his first son," that I'm wondering if it wasn't his first child, but was... just his first *son* to be born. As in, he has at least one daughter already? Would be interested if someone could confirm.

[@andresfontalvo17]

@@verity3616 someone like google or wikipedia?

[@RuthvenMurgatroyd]

@@verity3616 According to Wikipedia: _Maynard was born on 10 June 1987 in Chelmsford, England.[1] His partner is Eleanor Grant, a medical doctor. They have a child.[4]_ Citation [4] there is "Klarreich, Erica (June 2022). "A Solver of the Hardest Easy Problems About Prime Numbers". Quanta Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022." The interview it links to reads *He and his partner, Eleanor Grant, are expecting the birth of their first child within a few days, allowing Maynard just enough time for a quick visit to Helsinki.* Which is clearly the same kid he's talking about here.

[@archimidis]

Imagine how underwhelming the following weeks would be...

[@cheshire1]

@@archimidis they would be super stressful because you're caring for a newborn.

[@pyr0digm]

The first Fields Medal was awarded in 1936, 87 years ago and now goes to James Maynard at 36, born in 1987.

[@maxonmendel5757]

whoa thats cool

[@n0tthemessiah]

It's kismet!

[@columbus8myhw]

From this we learn the important theorem that 1936+87 = 1987+36

[@maxonmendel5757]

@@Dayanto i found my nomination for next season.

[@cheeseburgermonkey7104]

SYMMETRY

[@alexkalish8288]

This is the kind of guy who wins the Medal, for research on a subject that really great mathematicians have been exploring for 500+ years. Bravo James ...

[@leif1075]

Who says we can't do the same thing he did?

[@kkgt6591]

​@@leif1075your math grades.

[@hansolo9892]

@@kkgt6591 😂😂🤣🤣

[@leif1075]

@@kkgt6591 My math grades were great..Why would you assume they weren't or anything else without knowing anything about me?

[@kuzuthunder1964]

@@leif1075Don’t take it seriously dude, its just trolling. Grades have nothing to do with being groundbreaking in a field anyway.

[@lashamartashvili]

James has found the best usage for his Fileds Medal. It's made of noble metal, it's anti-bacterial and it's too big to be swallowed, so it makes a perfect toy for infants.

[@Trixex]

Wouldn't want my baby to bite on it tho

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Also, a baby holding a Fields Medal is one of the most adorable images ever created.

[@highviewbarbell]

​@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721the winners keep getting younger, I tell ya.

[@IceMetalPunk]

@@highviewbarbell Well, they can't be over 40, so they may as well be under 1! 😁

[@erniesulovic4734]

LOL

[@grev.]

can't believe i didn't hear about this until now, one of the best numberphile contributors

[@shasan2393]

I feel like a math hipster now lol. "yeah, i was familiar with James Maynard BEFORE he won the fields medal"

[@ragnkja]

@@shasan2393 What’s with the misnaming?

[@shasan2393]

@@ragnkja Woops, sorry mistyped his name. Just goes to show how much I was familiar with him lol

[@jsheradin]

He's also now a Fellow of the Royal Society! Can't wait to see what his future work has in store.

[@andrewfarrar741]

​@@jsheradinHave you heard about the Reimann solution yet? 2023 年 8 月 16 日.

[@StevenStJohn-kj9eb]

Hopefully he can parlay this into a bigger office - dude clearly deserves another whiteboard!

[@gregkrekelberg4632]

@deletereddit1102 Until they get wind of being recruited to a competing university. Then things tend to change rapidly.

[@IceMetalPunk]

A tiny little whiteboard for his son to work next to him 😁

[@christophersmith108]

It’s virtually a universal truth that any mathematician (or theoretical physicist) of the first order will *always* have all the whiteboard/blackboard space available to them crowded to incomprehensibility. If they have to share this space any empty gaps will have been filled with the comment “DO NOT ERASE”

[@geometerfpv2804]

​​@deletereddit1102Uh...yeah they do. He has his pick of institution. Universities care much more about research than they do about teaching. Research is their primary mission. They promote and hire based on research, and this is as prestigious a research award as you can get.

[@anuj-mn5eo]

At Oxford University this is considered a palatial office.

[@ares395]

Imagine winning the most famous award in your field and the next day you go back your first son is born. I'm surprised he didn't pass out from all the emotions.

[@highviewbarbell]

Well that's why he's so chill in interviews. He ran out of high evergy emotion juice during that week and now his maximum excited state is a bit lower

[@cmu6443]

implies second son was born?

[@ares395]

@@cmu6443 That's not at all how English works.

[@johnchessant3012]

12:06 I was discussing this with a friend and we agreed that the optimal time for a kid to be born is around September of a 2 (mod 4) year: they'd turn 40 right after the last Fields Medal they're eligible for, and they'd turn 18 right before the first US presidential election they're eligible for

[@IceMetalPunk]

... I was born in September 1990. I guess I have a lot of work to do over the next 6-years-and-1-month 😂

[@andrewfarrar741]

@@IceMetalPunk The spirit of an atomic ninja already exists inside you. ⚛️🥷

[@fahrenheit2101]

Provided you're a politically motivated mathematician

[@President__Job]

Funny how i was born September 2002 I am a math major and my last name means "presedent" in my language

[@thedanielstraight]

I could listen to this guy talk for at least an eon or two... Congrats on this achievement, sir! 👑

[@loebie]

Imagine being born and one of the first thing handed to you is a Fields Medal

[@javen9693]

For his playful yet elegant proof of the drooling conjecture and his stunning expansions in the field of diaperometry

[@nozua]

4:55 I was super hyped to see June Huh among the winners! He was an amazing expositor in the "g-conjecture" video, which is one of my favorite Numberphile videos.

[@datamoon]

Congratulations!

[@JM-us3fr]

I love how at 4:52 James Maynard is the only one smiling. Everyone else is like "Let's get this over with so I can go back to researching"

[@ImaginaryMdA]

I don't think you can blame Ukranian mathematician Maryna Viazovska at that particular time.

[@holliswilliams8426]

Viazovska was going through difficult times and had young colleagues and students who died during the Russia-Ukraine war.

[@Perriax]

What an achievement! Congratulations!!

[@BraydonVargas]

"Most mathematicians are really motivated by mathematics" Congratulations James!!!. congratulations to james! he is crazy genius, humble and certainly deserved it.

[@CombatLegsVIDS]

13:40 COULD THERE HAVE BEEN A MORE PERFECT PICTURE!?🥳💐 Congratulations on your 2 achievements, Mr. James Maynard. God bless you and your family. 🙏

[@svenhoek]

Congrats MJK !!!

[@ShinyShinyIsAlwaysBeingSerious]

I don't think I'll ever be able to understand the work that's gone into the achievement, but I do have an idea of the magnitude of the achievement, congratulations!

[@Beny123]

I can safely say working like crazy for 20+ years and being lucky enough to be born in a place and time to have great tutors/parents .

[@Xoque551]

So happy for you James, and for the journey to be brilliantly documented by Numberphile! Such a dream come true! :)

[@SoopaPop]

13:42 photographic evidence of world record fields medal speedrun. run time: less than 1 day

[@vincentbutton5926]

"Most mathematicians are really motivated by mathematics" ❤ Congratulations James!!!

[@captnmaico6776]

Great interview, James is not only incredible smart, but also humble and has a catching laugh.

[@plusunim]

Most sincere CONGRATULATIONS!! 🥳

[@JackDespero]

What a week for this man: Winning the Fields medal AND assisting to the birth of your first child. I am so happy for him.

[@UbiquitousBooks]

Something tells me that if you prove the Rieman hypothesis at age 41 then not winning the fields medal isn't going to hold you back too much…

[@thej3799]

😂

[@andrewcgs]

Andrew Wiles couldn't be awarded the Fields medal for proving Fermat's Last Theorem because he was 41, but he was awarded a special prize (a silver plaque)

[@shanggosteen9804]

@@andrewcgs Andrew wiles was awarded the abel prize, and a slew of other prizes. But I'm sure in his heart the best prize was being able to solve his childhood dream

[@KazimirQ7G]

Congratulations, Mr. Maynard! I'm proud of you, and love the way you explain your maths. Thank you for your contributions here in this channel. ♥

[@joseffbokobza6640]

I love this style of video. Interviewing mathematicians is really tickling my anthropology bone

[@chompin_cheddar]

Congratulations on your new addition to the family! The Fields Medal is cool too I guess.

[@PopeLando]

"You're out of luck if you solve Riemann when you're 41. But if you were born just one year earlier..." ~Prize-winning mathematician! 😂

[@alfonsolarcinese8926]

Age discrimination is everywhere...

[@alfonsolarcinese8926]

However I truly congratulate this guy anyway!

[@JohnDlugosz]

Well, there is a different prize you'd get, specific for a list of problems that includes the Riemann conjecture. I think the prize is a million dollars.

[@ben_clifford]

I love that no one in the comments got your joke. He should have said "one year later." We have a term for this in software. This is a version of the off-by-one error (this leads to being off by 2, but they all get lumped together).

[@terencetsang9518]

Jokes aside, this again dispels the somewhat common misconception that one's proficiency in mental arithmetics is meaningfully correlated with one's ability to apply, advance, or even invent math.

[@bernardcrnkovic3769]

congratulations to james! he is crazy genius, humble and certainly deserved it

[@Datamining101]

They should totally provide you with two medals... the truly valuable one and a plated one for display.

[@desktop2815]

Dang new speed run champion for Fields Medal. Nice job

[@sander_bouwhuis]

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations James!!! Surreal to have seen videos with you over the years, and there you are, winning such a prestigious price!

[@Dat_Thing88]

Congratulations fr!

[@CollinHeist20]

Super cool to see a talented person rewarded for their hard work!

[@holliswilliams8426]

i agree

[@TomRocksMaths]

Mans got skills.

[@andrewclifton9772]

James Maynard is one of my favorites on Numberphile but I missed this and have only just found he won the Fields. Well done James. Loved the Birth Year Mod 4 comment.

[@ShayWestrip]

Big congrats🎉 love Maynard vids

[@qwkimball]

I love the fact that one of the world's finest working mathematicians has apparently quite recently run into the edge of an open door.

[@varijavishwanath8253]

Congratulations 👏👏

[@dylanrambow2704]

It's absolutely beautiful to hear James's enthusiasm and glee.

[@faithgrins]

And for his work on Diaphantine approximations, at that! Congratulations, James! Hard-earned but well-earned.

[@trevinbeattie4888]

Congratulations James! 😊🎉

[@pacolibre5411]

Congratulations to Maynard James Keenan for winning the Fields Medal for his work with the Fibonacci sequence!

[@mdmn-ARCA]

Danny Carey was robbed!

[@ragnkja]

What’s with the misnaming?

[@blower5]

@@ragnkja math guy sound like tool guy

[@ragnkja]

@@blower5 And?

[@aksldfoityawiejfsdnfakldjfxcoi]

And for his work with parabolas on Lateralus

[@ggurunadha]

Congrats!!

[@skyless7304]

Congratulations what a joyous news, well deserved😊. Legend!

[@satyajeetprabhu]

What a guy... 3 time Formula 1 champion and now a fields medal!

[@spinity8468]

James, you are very charismatic! I like to see you talking. Thanks for this video!

[@IrishEye]

Loved the Mod4 comment, spoken like a true mathematician.

[@pezboy715]

5:11 Maryna - “I can’t believe I have to sit here and accept this stupid award when I could be doing maths….”

[@tatertot4810]

Congratulations sir!

[@gyubok]

congratulations James!

[@Bethos1247-Arne]

Ah, he. Remember some videos on this channel. This is a great honor for him. I am happy for him. And like to thank him for his contribution to the most beautiful science of all.

[@rajeshrai5208]

He seems to exemplify the joy of pursuing math! Congratulations, James Maynard!

[@jseden1]

What a joy, congrats xx

[@ziedjbeli4811]

Congratulations on this major achievement, sir 💯

[@str1979]

"if you're 41 you can't win . . if you only were born a year earlier" . . then you would be 42 . . so you couldn't win either - classic math mistake of a field medal winner 😂

[@johnchessant3012]

He said it slightly wrong but I believe the scenario he had in mind was something like this: born in 1989 -> proves major result in 2026 (age 37), but after that year's winners were already decided -> next Fields medal awarded 2030 (age 41) -> too old born one year earlier in 1988 -> proves major result in 2025 (age 37) -> next Fields medal awarded 2026 (age 38) -> yay

[@Vares65]

Oh wow! That's really exciting! Congrats!

[@javen9693]

He painted a wall and then won a fields medal and then wiped a baby's butt. Renaissance man.

[@carltonleboss]

Congrats!

[@ashkara8652]

So happy for him! Wish I knew sooner, what an achievement!

[@haggaisimon7748]

I used to be fascinated by Nobel prizes and Fields medal. Not anymore.

[@plbyrne]

This is awesome. Congratulations.

[@NickCombs]

What would be interesting to learn is how has winning the medal opened any doors or made work/life easier? My point is that when we as a society recognize someone's contributions, I would hope it helps the recipient in some way beyond having a pretty prize that has be locked up.

[@andrewfarrar741]

I hijacked the whole internet and I'm going to hold it hostage until humans stop launching imaginary rockets that go nowhere. The space|time to teleport out of The Matrix is whenever|whenever the math|magic hits you. 🫴✨🪄

[@geoffreykeane4072]

Great interview

[@kevinn1158]

I'll guess that your son was a bigger reward... And now you have a project in creating a great human being now. congrats on both.

[@IO___II____OI]

This was so cool. James seems like such a chill guy, wish I had him as a lecturer in uni hahhah.

[@busterdafydd3096]

14:26. You can put in a see through cupboard.. a display case . Heard of them? Also make sure the display case is screwed down and/or weighted and bullet proof, so you don't fear it being stolen

[@n0tthemessiah]

I think another criticism of the age limit, which James sort of alludes to, is that it may simply take a long time to solve a particular problem. For instance, Perelman locked himself away from the world for like 7 years or something to prove the Poincaré conjecture. So if he started when he was 34, he wouldn't have been eligible. It's not hard to imagine that it might take even more time devoted to a single problem to solve it. Like, what if it actually requires 20 years of work for someone to solve the Riemann hypothesis or P v NP? "Sorry sir/ma'am, you're 42, better luck next life"?

[@Laocoon283]

Yea except he didnt actually prove the poincare conjecture and knowingly put forth an incorrect proof in order to demonstrate the absurdity of the award which is why he didn't accept the medal cause it comes with a cash prize and it would be fraudulent of him to accept it.

[@jameson44k]

@@Laocoon283 Quit talking mad bs. Perelman is a man neither for public stunts nor awards. He is (was) a mathematician of the highest caliber, and did indeed prove the Poincaré conjecture and Thurston's geometrization conjecture as well as a number of other interesting new theorems related to the Ricci flow.

[@Laocoon283]

@@jameson44k You should read more into it. The committee established to verify the proof cannot.

[@n0tthemessiah]

@@Laocoon283 That isn't true and it isn't why he didn't accept it. You're straight making things up.

[@MrWhiteVzla]

@@Laocoon283 I rarely comment on silly comments, but please stop speaking rubbish. Just because you type things with conviction doesn't make them true

[@weetabixharry]

This is the first time I have heard of the medal winner before they won the Fields medal. All thanks to Numberfile.

[@barmouthbridge8772]

Love this guy on here. Numberphile through Brady has introduced us to so many likeable affable clever folk. I've made a list of my favourites which certainly isn't exhaustive. Holly Krieger, Hannah Fry, Zvezdelina Stankova, David Eisenbud, Ron Graham, Edward Frenkel. Who was your favourite and what distinguished them in your eyes?

[@randomname285]

Great contributor! Congrats to him!

[@danielfields2201]

Brady is the best at asking the simple questions we're all thinking at the time.

[@alexe3332]

Good job mate🥇

[@evilotis01]

omg congratulations!!!

[@bartwilson2513]

Well, I knew he was smart just from listening to him talk on his videos. I didn't know he was THIS smart. Good on 'em.

[@Bringiton513]

For myself being awarded that medal is more of value than being given the control of the whole world. I am not after fame, in fact I wouldn't tell if I were to win it. Just to feel in my heart that I have honoured the subject that for me is everything: mathematics.

[@integrando1847]

So nice dude

[@Sound557]

Take a bow, congratulations

[@aL3891_]

Thats a baller thumbnail

[@lafcursiax]

Awww, Fields baby! Double congratulations to James!

[@cyrilio]

He should have a replica made to use as a show piece.

[@xTeehe]

why

[@minafolco1785]

Congratulazioni 🏅

[@boredgrass]

The best shot of the Field Medal, ever❤️

[@rtpoe]

As to the age limit, the Nobel Prize has a limit, too. It CANNOT be awarded posthumously. That requirement, explicitly made in Nobel's will establishing the prizes, kept two eminently deserving people from winning it: Henry Moseley, who experimentally demonstrated that the major properties of an element are determined by the atomic number (died in battle in WWI just as the importance of his work was becoming known), and Oswald Avery, who proved that it was DNA that carried genetic information (died before the Nobel Prize people got around to seriously considering him).

[@quantumfineartsandfossils2152]

3:30 here we learn that his confidence is important to him & that he analyzed its properties in the shadow of Perelman

[@recklessroges]

Congratz Maynard. I look forward to what you discover next.

[@raybo780]

James is awesome, so happy for him

[@septopus3516]

I think Perelman's name will echo in mathematical eternity rather than an uncountable eternity had he accepted.

[@ehfik]

wow, congratulations!

[@sran2007]

Congratulations 🎉🎉

[@nutsnproud6932]

Well done!

[@michael4192]

You gotta bring this guy on more often with more number theory

[@georgekraus9357]

Daddy Medal came after the Fields Medal

[@donaldasayers]

Congratulations to James.

[@John-pn4rt]

possibly even more exciting for him he was the subject of a question on this week's (31 July 2023) heat of University Challenge!

[@A.K2.718]

James maynard won a fields medal, james maynard keenan wrote a 10minute song on the fibonacci sequence... amazing

[@bbok1616]

So inspiring

[@drorbitaldeathray]

Congratulations James! The picture of his son with the medal was so cute I had to screenshot it and send it to my wife 😆

[@jimhallal2513]

The picture of his son with the medal is brilliant