4 Things You Should Know About Maryam Mirzakhani

Maryam Mirzakhani was one of the best mathematicians of her generation, the first female recipient of the "nobel prize" of mathematics - here's how she did it!

People have pointed out two mistakes I made:
1. In the video I said Maryam stopped wearing a headscarf "towards the end of her life". Actually it was earlier than that.

Credits

Mirzakhani fields medal tribute, copyright Simons Foundation

Application of geodesics in computer graphics (one of many!)

Tesla factory

Mirzakhani talk

Seoul ceremony

Please see the pinned comment for discussion of point 1

[hamish_todd]

Regarding Maryam's religion.

I want to say first that being an Iranian does *not* automatically mean you are a Muslim. Anybody who asserts this is going along with a damaging and simplifying stereotype. I would not do this myself. In preparation for this video I checked two websites and they both asserted she was a Muslim, and I saw no reason to conclude that she wasn't.

This is an issue that people feel very passionate about, and I understand why. It awful that it is common, especially in Europe and the US, to blanketly expect that everyone from the Middle East (or even just people who look like they might be) is a Muslim. It is also awful that women in Iran, including Maryam when she was there, are forced to wear a hijab, just as every other way that the state religion constrains the lives of people who are not muslims - or who are muslims, but do not agree with that particular way of practising Islam.

But some Iranian immigrants *are* muslims, and for Maryam: her memorial at Stanford[1] was commenced by a man who recites verses from the Koran, and her funeral was Islamic[5]; she was reported to be a muslim by the media in Iran where her family lives, and also by non-muslim outlets such as Psychology Today; she was raised in the faith, which we know from the comment by Kamyar ahmadi majlan below and the Harvard memorial[2].

This circumstantial evidence is persuasive. To my knowledge there is no statement by her in either direction; the only interviews with her that I have read were about mathematics, as you might expect.

To corroborate the idea that she renounced the faith she was raised in, some folks have pointed to the fact that she married a man who was a non-muslim non-Iranian, and to the fact that she did not always wear a headscarf. However, many muslim women do not wear headscarves[3], and more than 10% of muslim women in the US are married to men who are not muslims[4].

[kahmadimajlan]

As an Iranian physicist and one of her earlier-time friends, I really appreciate your video. Thanks for keeping her memories alive. I will share your videos.

[vahidmirkhani]

Todd, thank you so much for explaining her achievements for us non-mathematicians.
Extra Fact:
Maryam was EXTREMELY humble and always thought she's not a genius, but with a normal mind. In fact, her friends and her B.S. adviser say she thought she was a bit slower than her peers.
That's how down to Earth she was.

God bless her. A beautiful mind and a wonderful soul.

[coolstar]

As an Iranian teenage girl, I admire her so much and she's my role model. She's so inspiring. And the fact that I go to the same highschool that she went make me more inspired😁

[badrijohnson]

Thank you so much for sharing Maryam's thoughts and achievements. When I was a Math teacher in Iran I used to talked about her to my students who were high school girls majoring
in Math& Physics as an aspiration for them. I am so proud and feel sad to not having her anymore.

[faisalirshad]

Hi, I am from Pakistan I teach math and wanted to tell my kid and student what maryam did in math, and you explained it so well even my 9 yo can watch the video and get the point. respect and admiration your way!

[joramponi]

What a nice example of worthy YouTube. Nice job, thanks.

[samannouraie]

Now she is not just a person. She is science, She is history and she is an important piece of our awareness about universe. If it's not immortality then I wonder what it could be?

[theghazalanisi]

Such a brilliant video, thank you for paying homage to her, a significant human being, intellect and extraordinaire. Very educational video

[devondevon]

I remember Maryam. She was the first and only woman to win the Field Medal, the highest honor in mathematics (for mathematician under age of 40 ), born in Iran. I think her husband is a math professor at Stanford, not certain, but she was . During her illness some in Iran asked the world to pray for her.
In 1995 she represented Iran, in the International Math Olympiad (for secondary school students), obtaining a perfect score of 42. She missed a perfect score in 1994 by one point scoring a 41 (out of 42). Some might ask why Andrew Wiles, who proved Fermat Last theorem, has not won the Field Medal . Well he was over 40 when he submitted his proof. Two years ago, however, he won the Abel Prize in mathematics at the age of 62 for that. Many believe that mathematicians past their prime in their mid thirties.
Maryam is survived by her husband and her daughter. She was a brilliant mathematician, a great lost.

[scienceblossom]

I really enjoyed watching a video about her achievements. Thanks.

[hosseinrostami]

When she received the Field I could not contain myself. It was the first thing I discuss with my colleagues for a long time as if I had been the recipient.


Maryem will never die and she lives forever through her mathematical abilities.


RIP. Rohat Shad.
.

[babakzamin]

As an Iranian, I want to thank you for preparing this video. It's sad that we lost her so soon.

[quantummath]

When I entered Sharif University of Tehran she had just graduated the math department with great honour. She was somewhat an academic Rockstar. Just like many others who went through the math Olympiad track she also pursued her graduate studies in the top tier universities in the States. She has truly accomplished something that many tens of people cannot possibly accomplish combined. I hope her story would inspire future generations especially those back in my home country, Iran.

[amirakbarian]

Kudos for putting up this great video. Thanks!

[aydagr]

thank you very much! The world needs to watch this video. It is such a shame that the majority don't even recognize the brilliance of Maryam Mirzakhani's work. Thank you so much for this video.

[jeezeuskreist]

Iranian here: thanks for shedding light on the late Ms. Mirzakhani's contribution to math and humanity thru your cool vid's simplified images and footage in layman's terms..

[mortigus]

nice of you to make this video. i hadn't heard of maryam until now

[ruppedogg]

Good stuff, Mr. Todd. Keep up the insightful, nuanced, and motivational videos. It is always tragic when humanity suffers a loss, and even more so when it is someone pushing our collective limits/achievements and understanding. I hope you are doodling, researching, and asking some awesome, in-depth questions wherever you are now, Mrs. Mirzakhani. Inspirational.

[elamiri]

She's going to inspire a whole generation of students in Iran especially female students.
This was a very well-researched and interesting video, great job!