A reclusive Russian genius awarded $1 million for solving one of the world’s toughest mathematics puzzles doesn’t think money solves much — he’s reportedly turning down the prize.
Dr. Grigory Perelman, 44, declared through the closed door of his roach-infested St. Petersburg, Russia, home: “I have all I want,” London’s Daily Mail reported.
Last week the Massachusetts-based Clay Mathematics Institute announced Perelman won the prize it was offering for resolving the Poincare Conjecture, which has stumped mathematicians for a century.
In 2002, Perelman, then a researcher at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, began posting his theories on the puzzle online.
Four years later he was a no-show at another award ceremony, saying at the time. “I’m not interested in money or fame. I don’t want to be on display like an animal in a zoo,” the newspaper said.