A Stanford mathematician has won the coveted 2014 Fields Medal for her original work understanding the mathematical symmetry of curved surfaces and saddle-shaped spaces.
Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman ever to win what scientists around the world call the "Nobel Prize for mathematics." She is the second person from Stanford to win the award.
Mirzakhani, who was born in Iran, has been professor of mathematics at Stanford since 2008. She received her award Wednesday at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Seoul.
"I will be happy if it encourages young female scientists and mathematicians," she said in a statement released by Stanford. "This is a great honor, I am sure there will be many more women winning this kind of award in coming years."
The Fields medal pays tribute to Mirzakhani's original work in understanding the math involved in dynamical systems such as water flowing through pipes or pendulums swinging in space. Math is also involved in the shapes of doughnuts and saddles, and the curves of a spacecraft voyaging to the planets - all examples of the complex mathematics that Mirzhakani's work has helped make clear.
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