Mathematics is the basic language of all natural sciences and all modern technology. In the twentieth century mathematics made tremendous strides both in opening new frontiers and in solving important and difficult old problems. Its influence permeates every creative scientific and technological discipline, and extends into the social science.
With the developments in computer science, information technology, and statistics in the twentieth century, the importance of mathematics to mankind will be further enhanced in the twenty-first century.
for his pioneering work on symplectic geometry, especially for envisioning the existence of a category — nowadays called the Fukaya category — consisting of Lagrangians on a symplectic manifold, for leading the monumental task of constructing it, and for his subsequent ground-breaking and impactful contributions to symplectic topology, mirror symmetry, and gauge theory.
Prize in Mathematical Sciences have been awarded to one laureate only
Prize in Mathematical Sciences have been shared by two laureates
for initiating and developing a grand unifying vision of mathematics that connects prime numbers with symmetry.
for David Mumford’s contributions to mathematics, and to the new interdisciplinary fields of pattern theory and vision research; and for Wentsun Wu’s contributions to the new interdisciplinary field of mathematics mechanization.
for his initiation of the field of global differential geometry and his continued leadership of the field, resulting in beautiful developments that are at the centre of contemporary mathematics, with deep connections to topology, algebra and analysis, in short, to all major branches of mathematics of the last sixty years.
