现在这世道，没人再喜欢科学狂，除非你成名了，或者立万了。不信，你看看：

--- 最近一期的非诚，那个北大毕业的财经高手，退出体制要自己建个科技平台一展手脚。他一吹完，人家24位晾女就全把灯给灭了，...

--- 湾区的科技王老五可说一大堆，哪一个不是从小人精、聪敏过人。结果呢？有几个混出头来比人家万金油好过的、过得好的？那个出版了47年的《Computer World》杂志，昨天最后一期，毙了。总编Scot Finnie说，虽然心有不舍，1967年6月21日创刊到现在整整47年，但真的玩不转了，就留个没人看的网站吧。

--- 还有那个中部学数学的博士，要跟人家学艺术的爱美女子交往，结果搞不定，就把人家小妮子给做了。他这一辈子就只在铁窗里做计算做结构吧。

这就是一斑见世。

现在有个比诺贝尔还高价的奖，叫“科学突破奖”（The Breakthough Prizes ）。他们说人家明星、球星个个待遇千万，而踢科研的、演数理的就个角落里的观众。气愤不过，说科学家也得打扮成大面额的明星。因此，2013年启动了这个突破奖，网络了世界上几乎所有的实业名人来捐款：阿里巴巴的马云Jack Ma夫妇，俄罗斯著名投资人尤里·米尔纳，谷歌德谢尔盖·布林夫妇，脸书的马克·扎克伯格夫妇，苹果的董事长亚瑟·莱文森， .... 说是要重奖在基础科学研究、生命科学研究等基础领域的大突破科学家。

2013年第一年，颁给了几个搞生命科学研究的。他们有没有突破咱不知道，反正只过了一年，他们是谁，除了那些生命科学领域的人，咱们这些外人早把他们给忘了。而一年内摇滚的明星、足球的明星，那知道的人可比他们多多了。

俄罗斯著名投资人尤里·米尔纳说，我们必须让这些科学大家赢得世人认知。50年代，《时代》杂志的封面不仅有政治家，还有爱因斯坦这样等对人类贡献巨大的科学家。而当今，这世界充斥的新闻仅仅只是为大众提供娱乐服务的球星和歌手。我们必须颁发世界上“金额最大的科学奖”给科研人员，要吸引更多的最聪明的大脑到科学研究中来。要与时俱进，把科学家也变成高知名度的明星。

其实，这位尤里·米尔纳忘了，世纪结束前，《时代》杂志的封面还选了《Computer》作封面人物。因为这个技术已经和正在极大地改变人类的生活方式和生活习惯。并且，电脑的发展还清楚地揭示了，在这个信息爆炸的时代，科学的成就多是以团队、群体、跨行业、跨地域的形式完成的。科学家个人的力量仅是表现在群体的努力之中。

今年，这个豪华的“科学突破奖”，把300万美元颁给了五个数学家。其中一位是华裔。

获奖者之一是英国的数学家理查德·泰勒，他目前在普林斯顿大学高级研究所客座 （好像就是老爱当年的那个单位，也是一样的职称）。他说：“科学长期被不公正地认为无聊和无趣，希望大奖能改变人们的成见。”你看，这位研究者还挺在乎人家的说道。他还说：“包括数学在内的很多科学研究，都是靠集体努力的。我会把部分奖金投放到研究领域，与同仁们分享。” 你说，这和踢足球的团队精神有何区别？

另外四位获奖的是：英国伦敦帝国理工的西蒙·唐纳森，法国高等科学研究所的马克西姆·康瑟维奇，哈佛大学的杰克布·卢瑞，加州大学洛杉矶分校的澳籍华裔数学家陶哲轩。

这位陶哲轩，就是前年说的，能得数学最高奖菲尔茨奖的那个年轻人......


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http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27926950 ：
 

'Biggest prize in science' announced

The first winners have been announced for a new prize for mathematics.

Five researchers have been awarded the Breakthrough Prize for their groundbreaking work.

The Breakthrough Prizes are awarded for recent achievements in fundamental physics, life sciences and mathematics.

The organisers describe them as the "biggest science awards in the world" as they offer the most prize money - $3m (£1.76m) for each.

Among the winners are Professor Richard Taylor, a British mathematician currently working at the Institute of Advance Studies in Princeton, New Jersey. He is a leader in the field of number theory and has helped to develop powerful new techniques to solve longstanding mathematical problems. He told BBC News that he felt "very surprised, excited and lucky" to win the award.

He said he had not decided what he would do with his prize money, but said he wanted spend it on something that would benefit his field.

"Mathematics is a team effort, involving collaboration and building on the work of one's colleagues so I want to find a way of giving something back to the community".

He said that such awards were important because they help to attract the "the best brains into science".

"Science has an undeserved reputation of being dry and unglamorous so anything that can be done to change that image is to be welcomed," he told BBC News.

The organisers' aim is to introduce some "razzmatazz" into science prizes, describing their winners as "the real rock stars".

The Breakthrough Prizes were launched by a group of philanthropic technology billionaires including Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, and Yuri Milner, founder of investment firm Digital Sky Technologies.

Mr Milner said the aim of the prize was to "cultivate a positive image of science and rationalism, and an optimistic view of humanity's future".

"Outside the field of entertainment, intellectual brilliance is under-capitalized in our society. 58 years ago, one of the most famous men on earth was not an actor, athlete or musician, but a theoretical physicist. Albert Einstein's face was on magazine covers, in newspapers and on television, worldwide," he said.

"His name was synonymous with genius. Yet most of today's top scientists - despite opening new windows onto the Universe, curing intractable diseases and extending human life - are unknown to the general public. The greatest thinkers of our age should be superstars, like the geniuses of screen and stadium."

Mark Zuckerberg said: "Mathematics is essential for driving human progress and innovation in this century. This year's Breakthrough Prize winners have made huge contributions to the field and we're excited to celebrate their efforts."

The other winners are: Simon Donaldson from Imperial College London; Maxim Kontsevich, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France; Jacob Lurie, Harvard University in Boston, and Terence Tao, University of California, in Los Angeles.

The prize for mathematics was launched last year to help redress the paucity of awards recognising achievement in the field. Others include the the Abel, Clay and Wolf prizes and the Fields Medal.