Read the article. Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)? Maths genius turns down $1m
In March 2010, unconventional Russian maths genius Grigory Perelman was in the news for refusing to accept a prize of $1m. The US Clay Mathematics Institute had awarded the Millennium Prize for his solution to the Poincaré conjecture, posed by French mathematician Henri Poincaré in 1904. It was considered one of the most important and difficult problems in mathematics. Perelman posted his solution on the internet in 2002, but it took the world’s leading mathematicians several years to check it.
This wasn’t the first time Dr Perelman had refused a prestigious prize. In 2006, he turned down the Fields Medal, regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize, saying, ‘I’m not interested in money or fame.’
Perelman was born in St Petersburg in 1966. At the age of 16, he won a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad. He was also a talented violinist and loved opera. He went on to complete a PhD, followed by a distinguished career, which included posts at several US universities. In 1995, he refused to send a CV when Stanford University offered him a job, arguing that if they knew his work, they shouldn’t need one.
Since 2006, Perelman has given up mathematics and lives a reclusive life in St Petersburg. Described as the world’s cleverest man, he lives with his mother in a small flat, where neighbours say he plays table tennis against the wall.
1 Perelman is gifted at maths. T
2 He said he didn’t want the money.
3 Perelman won the prize for posing a very difficult maths problem.
4 He put his solution on the internet eight years before he was awarded the prize.
5 He refused another prize in 2006 because he didn’t want to be famous.
6 Perelman won a gold medal at the Olympic games.
7 He was a good violinist as well as a mathematician.
8 He worked in the USA before he got his PhD.
9 Stanford University wanted Perelman to work there.
10 He still does mathematical research.
11 He plays table tennis by himself.
