B. ABEL PRIZE

The Abel Prize is an international prize presented annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. The prize is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829). In 2001, after interest in the prize had risen, a working group was formed to develop a proposal, which was presented to the prime minister of Norway in May. In August 2001, the Norwegian government announced that the prize would be awarded beginning in 2002, the two-hundredth anniversary of Abel's birth. The first prize was actually awarded in 2003. It has often been described as the "mathematician's Nobel" prize and is among the most prestigious awards in mathematics. It comes with a monetary award of six million kroner, which is approx. (2010) €740,000 or US $992,000. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters annually declares the winner of the Abel Prize after selection by a committee of five international mathematicians. The committee is headed by Kristian Seip. The amount of money that comes with the prize is usually close to one million dollars, similar to the Nobel Prize, which is awarded in Sweden and Norway and excludes mathematics. Norway gave the prize that was about US $23,000,000 in 2001. The prize is an attempt to create publicity for mathematics, to make the discipline more prestigious, especially for young people.

The prize board has also established an Abel symposium, administered by the Norwegian Mathematical Society.

A book series recently commenced, with one volume every five years, will present the Abel Prize laureates and their research. The first volume covers the years 2003–2007.

II. Focus on these words. Why were they important in the text?

Niels Henrik Abel in 2003 US $992,000 more prestigious commenced