High Pi for Women’s History Month What’s a mathematician’s favorite dessert? Pi!

Pi- the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It’s a comparison of the distance around a circle to its width.   The symbol for Pi is π, and is commonly approximated to 3.14 when you want the numerical version.  Although Pi has been around since the early 1600s, the true value of Pi hasn’t been determined just yet. Pi is considered to be an irrational and transcendental number. This means that it will continue forever, with no noticeable pattern to it’s value. As of today, Pi has been calculated out to 31 trillion digits, and there is still more to discover! So while identifying more values of Pi should be left to the brilliant mathematicians in the world, celebrating Pi on Pi Day is for everyone! Pi Day- March 14, or 3/14. The day in which we celebrate the value of Pi in all its mysterious glory. Pi Day is a day for math lovers to talk about their favorite topic, Math! And also a day to eat some yummy pie. 

Now, as delightful as Pi Day is, it’s not the only important thing to celebrate in the month of March. March is also Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate the amazing accomplishments of the STEM/STEAM women that have come before us. This Women’s History Month article will talk about two incredibly amazing female mathematicians whom you’ve probably never heard of before. These women have broken barriers in the math world and have been recognized with two amazing awards- the Abel Prize and the Fields Medal. These awards are considered to be the “Nobel Prize” of Mathematics, since there is no actual Nobel for math. And they were the first women to ever be awarded these prestigious honors. So, who are these amazing women?

“The structure, elegance, and beauty of mathematics struck me immediately, and I lost my heart to it” -Karen Uhlenbeck

Karen Uhlenbeck (1942-present) was awarded the Abel Prize in 2019 for her pioneering achievements and impact in analysis, geometry, and mathematical physics. She was the first woman to ever be awarded this prestigious award in the 17 years since it was founded. Karen fell in love with the field of mathematics during her honors math class her freshman year of college.  She went on to graduate school and eventually earned her PhD in Mathematics. From there, she went on to teach at various universities, in addition to continuing research in differential equations and geometry and expanding her knowledge of physics. Her pursuit of knowledge in mathematics made her one of the most prominent mathematicians of her generation. 

In addition to being the first woman awarded the Abel Prize, Karen Uhlenbeck became the second woman to ever give a Plenary Lecture at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). This is one of the largest and most important gatherings for mathematicians, and is held every four years. The first woman to ever speak there was Emmy Noether in 1932. When Karen spoke there in 1990, she broke a 58-year dry spell for female speakers at this conference. Karen Uhlenbeck is truly an inspiration to aspiring female mathematicians, and is proof that you can do anything you set your mind to. 

“The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers” 

-Maryam Mirzakhani

Maryam Mirzakhani (1977-2017) received the Fields Medal in 2014 for her “outstanding contributions to the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces” (“Maryam Mirzakani”). She was the first woman and the first Iranian to ever be awarded this medal since its start in 1936. The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to recipients under 40 years old, to recognize their outstanding mathematical achievement for both their current work and the promise of future achievement. Recipients are chosen by the International Mathematical Union (IMU); in its history, 60 people have been chosen to receive the award- 59 men and one woman. 

Maryam had a long history of being the first woman to compete and achieve mathematical recognition. The first major accomplishment for her happened in 1994 when she was in high school. She became one of the first women to qualify for Iran’s International Mathematical Olympiad team. She earned gold that year, and the following year she received both a gold medal and a perfect score. Following high school, Maryam went on to college and graduate school. There, where she wrote her dissertation on hyperbolic surfaces and Moduli space of curves. This paper was described as “truly spectacular” (Stanford University)  and was published in some of the top mathematical journals. It also won her the Leonard M and Eleanor B Blumenthal Award for the Advancement of Research in Pure Mathematics; she was one of only six people to ever receive this amazing award. 

After receiving her PhD, she went on to teach at various universities until her passing in 2017. Her colleagues described her as the embodiment of a true mathematician- attempting to solve something that had never been solved before. They said that she had true intellectual curiosity, and was one of the greatest intellects of her time. Although she passed away at the age of 40, her impact on mathematics will always be remembered. She never took the easy way in life, choosing instead to tackle challenges and show everyone that with a little hard work anything is possible. 

These two amazing women, Karen Uhlenbeck and Maryam Mirzakhani, were trailblazers in the field of mathematics. They chose to pursue their dreams, and didn’t let anything stop them. They are truly remarkable women, and their accomplishments have inspired the next generation of mathematicians to shoot for the stars.

References

“10 Famous Women Mathematicians.” AU Online, 4 Mar. 2019, online.aurora.edu/infographics/10-famous-women-mathematicians.

Al-Khalili FRS, J. (n.d.). A Biography of Karen Uhlenbeck [Www.abelprize.no/c73996/binfil/download.php?tid=74107].

“Fields Medal | International Mathematical Union (IMU).” International Mathematical Union, 2021, www.mathunion.org/imu-awards/fields-medal.

Klarreich, E., & Quanta Magazine moderates comments to facilitate an informed, S. (n.d.). Karen Uhlenbeck, Uniter of geometry and Analysis, Wins Abel Prize. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.quantamagazine.org/karen-uhlenbeck-uniter-of-geometry-and-analysis-wins-abel-prize-20190319/

“Maryam Mirzakhani.” Maths History, Aug. 2017, mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Mirzakhani.

“Pi.” Math Is Fun, 2020, www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/pi.html.

“Pi Day – Fun Holiday.” Time and Date, 2021, www.timeanddate.com/holidays/fun/pi-day.

Stanford University. “Maryam Mirzakhani, Mathematician and Fields Medal Winner, Dies at Stanford.” Stanford News, 24 July 2017, news.stanford.edu/2017/07/15/maryam-mirzakhani-stanford-mathematician-and-fields-medal-winner-dies.

Wikipedia contributors. “Abel Prize.” Wikipedia, 14 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Prize.