The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is held every four years. This August it was held in Berlin. More than 3000 mathematicians from 92 countries were present. Traditionally the names of the Fields Medalists and the Nevanlinna prize winner are disclosed at the big opening ceremony. The Fields Medal is the highest award in mathematics. The Nevanlinna prize is awarded for outstanding achievements in computational mathematics.
At ICM 1998 Fields medals were awarded to:
Richard E. Borcherds (Cambridge Univ.), for his work in automorphic forms and mathematical physics.
William T. Gowers (Cambridge Univ.), for his work in functional analysis and combinatorics
Maxim Kontsevich (Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques and Rutgers Univ.), for his work in algebraic geometry, algebraic topology, and mathematical physics
Curtis T. McMullen (Harvard Univ.), for his work on holomorphic dynamics and geometry of 3-dimensional manifolds
In addition, a special tribute, the ÏMU silver plaque," was awarded to Andrew J. Wiles (Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study) for his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.
The Nevanlinna Prize was awarded to Peter Shor (AT
Every prize winner gave a talk on his results and the interest was so high that the largest auditorium of the Technical University was full and the organisers had to display the lectures on a big screen to another large auditorium (also full!) Many prominent mathematicians presented lectures, lots of small talks were given and (as usual) a huge variety of mathematicial, near-mathematical and cultural activities went on around the Congress. It was impossible to visit more than a fraction of these.
The International Mathematical Union (IMU) has decided that the next ICM will be held in Beijing in 2002.