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A Number Theorist Who Bridges Math and Time

August 1, 2018

Akshay Venkatesh, a former prodigy who struggled with the genius stereotype, has won a Fields Medal for his “profound contributions to an exceptionally broad range of subjects in mathematics.”

A Poet of Computation Who Uncovers Distant Truths

August 1, 2018

The theoretical computer scientist Constantinos Daskalakis has won the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize for explicating core questions in game theory and machine learning.

A Master of Numbers and Shapes Who Is Rewriting Arithmetic

August 1, 2018

The 30-year-old math sensation Peter Scholze is now one of the youngest Fields medalists for “the revolution that he launched in arithmetic geometry.”

A Path Less Taken to the Peak of the Math World

June 27, 2017

June Huh thought he had no talent for math until a chance meeting with a legendary mind. A decade later, his unorthodox approach to mathematical thinking has led to major breakthroughs.

The Oracle of Arithmetic

June 28, 2016

At 28, Peter Scholze is uncovering deep connections between number theory and geometry.

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Michael Atiyah’s Imaginative State of Mind

March 3, 2016

At 86, Britain’s preeminent mathematical matchmaker is still tackling the big questions and dreaming of a union between the quantum and the gravitational forces.

Visions of Future Physics

September 22, 2015

Nima Arkani-Hamed is championing a campaign to build the world’s largest particle collider, even as he pursues a new vision of the laws of nature.

A Life in Games

August 28, 2015

The mathematician John Horton Conway’s myriad accomplishments — including the Game of Life, sprouts and the surreal numbers — are the product of a mind at play.

For Persi Diaconis’ Next Magic Trick …

April 14, 2015

A mathematician who has analyzed card shuffling for decades is tackling one final nemesis: “smooshing.”

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