The Abel Prize: The Missing Nobel in Mathematics?

The Norwegian government created the Abel Prize in Mathematics in 2002 in memory of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829). The aim was to establish the annual Abel Prize as the world's leading prize in mathematics. The creation of the prize was the result of a short and successful campaign in the spring and summer of 2001, which presented the prize as 'the missing Nobel Prize in mathematics.' The prize was very well received, both by the international mathematical community and Norwegian politicians. Sweden's Nobel Foundation, however, found repeated references to the new prize as 'a Nobel in mathematics' to be quite inappropriate. This article focuses on how the prize was successfully established in Norway, a country considered by some to be at the mathematical periphery, and to what extent the Abel Prize has been able to live up to the high expectations during its first 10 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]