Abelprisen 2006

Kunnskapsminister Øystein Djupedals tale ved Abelbanketten 23. mai 2006 på Akershus Slott.

Your Majesty, Excellency, Professor Carleson, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to host this dinner on behalf of the Norwegian government in celebration of this year’s Abel Prize. Again we are honoured by the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. We highly value the Royal Family’s strong commitment for the Abel Prize.

Our Prime Minister, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, regrets that he was not able to join us today. In fact he had the pleasure of announcing the establishment of the Abel Fund during his latest term in office in 2001. Today we are pleased to see that the Abel Prize has become all that one could have hoped it to be; the most prestigious prize in the field of mathematics, and a fine way of honouring the memory of Niels Henrik Abel.

Once again the Abel committee has chosen a most worthy winner. I believe all Scandiavians have reason to be proud that we now have a representative in the distinguished company of Abel Laureates. And we must admit that the Nobel Prize has been both an inspiration and a model for the establishment of the Abel Prize. It is therefore a particular pleasure to honour a Swedish Abel Laureate.

I have understood that professor Carleson has been a “problemsolver” in his work as a mathematician. He has tackled very complex and abstract problems in the fields of harmonic analysis and dynamic systems. I am somewhat relieved to see that even a jury made up of mathematicians points out how complex these problems are. From a layman’s point of view, like mine, they seem quite baffling. But I note that these abstract parts of mathematics have a connection to fields like engineering and weather forecasts, which we take for granted in our daily life.

Professor Carleson has, in addition to his own outstanding research, taken a special interest in mathematics education on all levels and in creating good conditions for the development of young students and researchers. These are important contributions to the field of mathematics and to society in general.

Professor Carleson has underlined that in our modern society everyone needs to master mathematics, at least to some degree, even in jobs that seems far from mathematics at first glance. It is clear that we also need more people with extensive knowledge of mathematics, because mathematics is essential also in many other branches of science.

Professor Carleson has pointed to the importance of having good, inspiring teachers in our schools. I agree that this is very important. We need to get pupils interested in mathematics. And we need to make them see that mathematics opens the way to a variety of interesting careers.

In Norway, as in many other Western countries, we have seen a decline in pupils’ knowledge of mathematics and natural sciences. We also experience a decline in the interest to study these subjects. This is a problem and a challenge; for the educational system, for industry and for society at large.

A range of measures have already been taken to turn this trend, and we are seeing the first positive results. But we still have a distance to go before we can be satisfied with the recruitment to studies in mathematics and natural sciences. It will only become more important to catch the interest of gifted students and make them want to study these subjects in the years to come. We, like the EU-countries, have ambitious plans to strengthen the research effort, and to do this we need more researchers.

It is of course important to make young people see that studies in mathematics lead to many job opportunities. But we should also focus on other aspects of the subject, so that it is not presented as “safe but boring”. Journalism, psychology, history of art and philosophy are all subjects where we have no trouble recruiting students. Mainly because they are regarded as intellectually stimulating, and give opportunity for personal development and creativity.

Such aspects should also be stressed when it comes to mathematics and natural sciences. The “image” of these subjects needs to be restored. They should be presented as the fascinating subjects that they are, full of intellectual challenges and therefore also of possibilities for personal development and a sense of fulfilment.

It is worth noting that Plato, philosopher in Ancient Athens, valued mathematics very highly. Not only because he thought the order of the world consisted in some kind of mathematical harmony. He also believed that mathematics is the principal means to sharpen the human intellect, making us better able to understand different aspects of life, like ethics.

I understand that one of professor Carlesons’ achievements is that he has solved a mathematical problem that had been unsolved for one and a half century. I can only imagine the sense of personal fulfilment that must give. This aspect of mathematics should be communicated to young people.

Maybe we could succeed in making the subject more “fashionable” - at least we should make clear that it has a lot to offer in terms of inspiring intellectual challenges. In this context the enthusiastic and dedicated teacher is again vital, and the effort to get more such teachers in our schools must continue.

Today’s occasion is another way of promoting this “image” of mathematics; the celebration of the Abel Prize brings mathematics to the front stage, and presents it as an important and exiting field of study. The Abel Laureates stand out as eminent mathematicians and serve as an inspiration for new generations of scientists. Please join me in a toast to the Abel Laureate Professor Lennart Carleson and to mathematics!