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­Author Simon Singh Will Receive First-Ever Lilavati Award at ICM 2010

August 9, 2010

Author, journalist, and TV producer Simon Singh will be awarded the first-ever Lilavati Prize for significant contributions to public awareness of mathematics and science.

Singh will receive a citation and one million Indian rupees (US $20,000) during the closing ceremonies of the 2010 International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM 2010), which takes place in Hyderabad, India, from August 19-27.

The prize is named after the 12th-century mathematical treatise "Lilavati," by mathematician Bhaskara II. Written in verse form, it contains  arithmetic and algebra problems and solutions devoted to Lilavati, who may have been the author's daughter. This work appears to have been the main source of learning arithmetic and algebra in medieval India.

Singh studied physics at Imperial College, London, and received his doctorate in particle physics from Cambridge University.

In 1990 he joined the BBC's "Science and Features" department, and in 1996 directed Fermat's Last Theorem, a documentary which formed the basis for his first book of the same name. 

His other works include The Code Book—The Secret History of Codes and Code Breaking (1999), which resulted in a television serial called The Science of Secrecy. He has also produced "Five Numbers" (2002), "Another Five Numbers" (2003), and "A Further Five Numbers" (2005) for BBC Radio 4.

Around 3,000 delegates from across the globe are expected at the International Congress of Mathematicians, which represents the biggest and the most prestigious international gathering of mathematicians. MAA’s Director of Publications and Communications, Ivars Peterson, (aka The Mathematical Tourist) will also be in attendance and speaking on a panel about communicating mathematics to society-at-large.

Source: Alpha Galileo (August 5, 2010)

Id: 
917
Start Date: 
Monday, August 9, 0010