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1942 – presentUnited States
Karen Uhlenbeck
Even the most complicated shapes obey patterns you can discover.
A short story
An American mathematician who studied how surfaces curve and bend: soap films, hot-air balloons, the geometry of how a shape sits in space. Her work led to whole new branches of mathematics that physicists now use to describe the universe. In 2019 she became the first woman ever to win the Abel Prize, mathematics' highest honour.
In their own words
I want to be remembered for showing that women belong in mathematics, but more than that, for the mathematics itself.
Paraphrased: from Karen Uhlenbeck's interviews following the 2019 Abel Prize.
The lab their idea turned into
Shape Atelier
Meet the shapes. Count their sides. Read their angles. Notice when lines stay apart.
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