“Without mathematics, there would not have been any digital theory to pave the way for the information and communications revolution, and there would not be any computer graphics that make it possible to create movies and animated films in which we now all revel. Using mathematics to analyze any form of financial investment or big data has helped to create new services and new markets, too. Like this, math is a very important tool that enables us to come up with new ideas or to get to the bottom of problems, and at the same time, it can create significant added value by merging a variety of areas, such as scientific technology, industry, culture and the arts.”



So said President Park Geun-hye in her keynote address as she kicked off the 2014 Seoul International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) on August 13.

Until August 21, Seoul will play host to the ICM, the largest conference on the subject of mathematics and which boasts a 117 year history. The theme for this year's conference is, “Dreams and Hopes for Late Starters.” Korea is now the fourth Asian host of the international event, following Japan, China and Indonesia.

The opening ceremony on August 13 was attended by more than 4,000 participants from about 120 countries, including President Ingrid Daubechies of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), mathematicians from both at home and abroad and representatives from the academic, research, industrial and media sectors.




“Mathematics is one of the greatest legacies shared by all humankind,” said President Park in her opening remarks. “Calculations and mathematical measurements date back beyond the invention of writing. Math transcends nationality and race, becoming something of a universal language that has made a big difference in our lives.”

The president went on to say that, “Creative, logical and reasonable thought achieved through math is the basic requirements for any future leader. I hope mathematicians and the participants here today will pay more attention to promising young people so that they can enjoy learning math and can grow into creative, talented individuals who will lead the world and create its future.”

As head of state of the host nation, President Park also presented this year's medals to the mathematicians who accomplished remarkable achievements. These include the Fields Medal, the most prestigious honor in mathematics, often dubbed the, “Nobel Prize of math,” the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize, a prize awarded for outstanding contributions to mathematical aspects of information science, the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize, an award given to a mathematician who made an outstanding contribution in applied mathematics, and, lastly, the Chern Medal Award, a prize granted to an individual who makes a high-level achievement in geometry.

During its one-week run, the conference will abound with many informative lectures. There are ten lectures given by prize winners, 21 keynote lectures by world-renowned math scholars and 179 lectures by conference invitees. In addition, 1,182 up-and-coming mathematicians are to present their academic dissertations while in Seoul. There will also be public lectures and a variety of cultural events.

James Harris Simons, a U.S. mathematician and hedge fund manager who taught math at Harvard University, gave a lecture on the opening day. On August 20, Adrian Paenza, the winner of the 2014 Leelavati Prize, an award given to mathematicians in recognition of their outstanding public outreach work for mathematics, will present a lecture.

On August 19, Cedric Villani, a French mathematician who won the Fields Medal in 2010 and also starred in the movie, “How I Came to Hate Math,” will talk about how he came to hate math and how math came to enrich his life.

The same day, Korea’s best go players, including Seo Bong-soo, Yoo Chang-hyuk and Lee Chang-ho, will play go against some mathematicians, fighting not man-to-man but one-against-six. They will also explain the correlation between mathematics and the mathematical elements of the game go.

There will also be sideline events, such as the NANUM 2014 program, that invites 1,000 mathematicians from developing countries to Korea during the Seoul ICM, and the "Mathematics in Emerging Nations: Achievements and Opportunities" (MENAO) symposium that bring together mathematicians to discuss progress made in developing nations in the field of mathematics and mathematics education.

By Wi Tack-whan, Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writers
whan23@korea.kr